Slow producing auto animal farm.

[Protokohl]

Hey,

I was wondering does anyone have any ideas on how to make a slow producing automatic animal farm? I know I can use Soul Shards but that produces so much stuff in a short amount of time that and I want a natural feel to an animal farm. I have thought of using Railcraft with age detectors, carts etc. However I would prefer a way to auto-breed and slaughter at a slow pace. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Protokohl

 

[Someone Else 37]

You could get into Minefactory Reloaded, and use a combination of its machines.
You'll set up a Breeder, which automatically dispenses wheat, carrots, seeds, whatever to animals in one pen.
A Chronotyper would pull out any babies that spawn in and place them in a second pen, another Chronotyper would pull those into a third pen once they mature.
A Grinder would then be used to kill them and produce drops, as well as Mob Essence, which can then be stuffed into an Auto Enchanter.

 

[Protokohl]

That's quite a nice idea, I like it. Thanks.

P.S. If anyone else has any ideas I am open to as many as possible because I can then mishmash them into my own creation . Thanks everyone!

 

[Hitmaniac]

I just set up a 9x9 with fences and in the middle I put a Feeding Station. This automatically feeds and breeds the animals. With a stack of wheat you'll get more than enough cows. It isn't automatic but I don't have a big need for a massive supply of animal drops.

 

[Protokohl]

Thanks, any more ideas anyone? Please keep them coming. .

 

[danidas]

There is always the classic drop trap with a twist, create a drop trap with a piston door triggered by 2 pressure plates on opposite sites of the pen. Now place a feed station in the pen and you will always be guaranteed to have at least 2 cows to breed as the trap will close once they leave the pressure plates.

 

[Peppe]

T5 shards can be redstone controlled. You could pulse it at any rate you like to limit how often it is on.

 

[Protokohl]

Both nice ideas. The T5 shards are a nice idea and I hadn't thought of pulsing it. Any more ideas anyone? Please keep them coming.

 

[netmc]

hmm. Use the RC feeding station along with a RP regulator to keep x items in stock. As long as the feeding station can't feed the same animal twice, for every 2 wheat, you should have 1 offspring. using that method, you can have a railcart come though, and pick up an animal. If it is a baby, it gets dropped back off, and if not, it is taken to a slaughterhouse. This should allow you to keep a fixed herd size, and slaughter the cows on a slow schedule.

When the regulator pulses and restocks the feeding station, the cart gets sent through the livestock pen. The beginning of the pen has a disembarking track to eject any animals riding the cart. At the other end of the pen is an embarking track that will automatically pick up any mobs close by. The cart leaves the pen, and goes over a growth detector. If it is a full grown animal, the cart is sent off to the slaughterhouse and afterwards is held until the next time the feeding station is restocked. If there is a baby in the cart, or the cart is empty, it is sent back through the pen again to try and pick up another animal.

Minefactory reloaded, Soul Shards, or railcraft are the only ways I know that can work with livestock automatically. You could build some machines with RP deployers to feed the animals, then piston gates to separate the herd, then water/fire to slaughter and kill half of them, but you run the risk of accidentally killing the whole herd, or not knowing which animals have bred and which haven't, or how to separate the babies from the adults.

 

[Protokohl]

So the embarking track auto picks up mobs? Or does it need a pulse? Either way what is the range of the embarking track? And how would you suggest the slaughter house be made? Thanks . Any more suggesting keep them coming thanks .

 

[Someone Else 37]

So the embarking track auto picks up mobs? Or does it need a pulse? Either way what is the range of the embarking track? And how would you suggest the slaughter house be made? Thanks . Any more suggesting keep them coming thanks .

If I'm not mistaken, the embarking track will automatically suck a nearby mob (or player) into any cart passing over it. It may need a constant redstone signal, but I don't think it needs to be pulsed.
Also note that control tracks are recommended whenever a cart must pass through an enclosure that contains mobs, as a cart won't be pushed backwards by cows that will certainly show up in the way. I have also heard that animals in minecarts can still breed, but won't be picked up by embarking tracks.

As for the slaughterhouse... You could try a drop trap, a vanilla-style "thin blade of lava" (perhaps using cover strips or corners to hold the lava in place, instead of ladders/signs), cacti, Xycraft Crystals (the little tiny crystal-shaped "quartz crystals" that spawn underground in the Overworld), melee turtles, brainy Thaumcraft Iron Golems, Redpower Igniters, or MFR's Grinder that I mentioned in my post above.
The advandage to turtles or golems (with visors as well as the Intelligence Core) is that you get to keep the XP. The grinder will do kind of the same thing, but it instead produces liquid "Mob Essence", as I explained above, which can be used for enchanting.

As a final note, if you're using Railcraft to transport mobs, I will recommend the Disposal Track. It's a combination of the Suspended and Disembarking tracks- it does not need a block directly under it (Floating bridges!), and will cause minecarts to dump any mob or player riding them. And did I mention that the tracks aren't solid (except to minecarts), either?

 

[Protokohl]

Alright! Thanks for that I will take it into consideration. I downloaded MFR and have looked at Wylkers spotlights featured on the thread. I think I will use a combination of both Railcraft and Iron Golems. I would use a Grinder except for the fact that the Grinder drops are exceedingly slow like either 1 leather or 1 meat, no more. At least that was what I saw on Wylkers spotlight I could be wrong. Though I will definitely use MFR for Cocoa bean production and Fishing! Thanks for the help .