egg-laying animals actualy laying eggs
- Thread starter talpa
- Start date
Then Vet will come and collect them. And return the babies again after incubation.
that's a very good idea. I think the game would be way more realistic if they add this in the next big update.
Even though it isn't the same, you can find some good Nests if you search in the Workshop. There is a Blueprint with a Peafowl Nest, a Ostrich Nest and a Flamingo Nest
I never even thought about eggs for those animals that do lay eggs. Would be a great addition, can't be a whole lot more complicated than the poo they drop. Just make them eggs that hatch after appropriate time, even that simple addition would improve the realism. Would be great if egg care and management were added as a whole separate mechanic to work with in game too!
No it wouldn't. There are very few animals that zoos allow to lay eggs without intervention. The eggs are invariably collected and artificially incubated and the young hand-reared before they are passed over to other zoos or reintroduced to the habitat. This ensures maximum survivability for the offspring and leaves very little to chance.
There is one problem with that idea. The time it would take for the vet to get to the eggs, and the time he/she walks back to the facility where they will be incubated would be too long compared to how quick it takes for them to hatch due to how fast the in-game time is. What could work is, after the animals have mated, there will be no egg laying animation, but the eggs will appear automatically in the incubator after a specific amount of time and then incubated for some time (depending on species), and then hatch to be taken to an exhibit type holding pen for hatchlings and/or to the original/separate habitat if the hatchling facility idea is too costly.
By realism I mean laying eggs and not live births as it is now. And you are also not entirely correct on how zoos handle eggs. Most species eggs are left in the nest with the mother. It causes more issues hand raising and they try to avoid doing that. Especially for species they are trying to reintroduce into the wild, as they will not survive if hand raised.
Usually hand-rearing occurs with puppets so the young imprints on the physical form of its mother. I have witnessed this occurring with parrots, birds of prey, and flamingos. I have also taken part in the artificial incubation of kiwi and tuatara (the latter eggs were difficult to find because like most reptiles tuatara bury them). This occurs frequently even with animals that are due for release to the wild. Even in cases where birds are allowed to breed of their own accord zoos will usually create artificial nest-boxes that are easily accessible for the keepers; there are very few instances where birds are allowed to breed naturally. With many species of birds there's a good chance one or more of the young is neglected in favour of its stronger nestmates, for example; by removing the eggs zookeepers can avoid this occurring. Additionally it's common for parent birds to destroy and eat their own eggs at the slightest inconvenience, especially in mixed-species aviaries where there is always the risk, even if it is only perceived, of another, more threatening bird getting into the nest.
Then there are the big birds, such as ostriches; in the wild ostriches typically build their nests away from the main avenues of animal movement. In zoos this isn't generally possible in mixed species habitats. Due to the nature of parental care in ostriches if whichever parent is guarding the nest gets scared off by a bigger animal (and this isn't uncommon, either - nesting birds are far less forgiving of provocation) then the nest is effectively abandoned.
In any case, despite what you believe about how zoos handle bird and reptile breeding, adding an egg-laying function in-game just creates an unnecessary extra step between pregnancy and birth. On top of not being especially realistic, it doesn't create any new challenges, and doesn't add anything significant by way of gameplay features. The animals born in-game, whether they are birds, reptiles, or mammals, are not newborn, they appear as juveniles (and even then age is inconsistent between species, with some being pretty close to newborn, and others being closer to adolescence). My point is that in the same way you have to imagine that some time has passed between birth and the offspring's initial appearance in the habitat for any species in the game (which you do, because a newborn lion cub is nothing like the game's baby lion), it's just as easy to imagine that eggs were laid and offspring were reared for a while before the baby birds and reptiles appear in-game.
I don't think it wouldn't add anything significant to the gameplay features. If this get's into the game, there could be something like a hatchery building (staff building). The player could decide wether or not the eggs of a certain species will be taken there after this feater is unlocked for that specific species in the research center. when a player choses to use the hatchery, the chance to get more babys with a better imunity raises. The downside of doing this: there should always be a vet in the hatchery during the first two months after birth and the maintaine fee of the hatchery is quitte expensive.
@talpa, sounds like a lot of significant additions/changes to the game if you sum it up like that.
Just a nitpick: Maintenance fee of a hatchery in RL shouldn't be expensive (dont know if this also counts for a zoo).
My dad has a small hatchery in their shed to help out local small farmers and for hobby purposes. So mostly chicks and sometimes ducks.
It's not a time and money consuming hobby
Just a nitpick: Maintenance fee of a hatchery in RL shouldn't be expensive (dont know if this also counts for a zoo).
My dad has a small hatchery in their shed to help out local small farmers and for hobby purposes. So mostly chicks and sometimes ducks.
It's not a time and money consuming hobby