Kibble

Kibble is a type of food intended for use as animal feed.

Acquisition

Kibble can be cooked at a Butcher spot or Butcher table. A batch of kibble requires 1 unit of nutrition from vegetarian items, and 1 unit of nutrition from meat or animal products. For example, 20 rice and 20 insect meat are sufficient. A completed bill requires 450 ticks (7.5 secs) and produces 50 kibble at a butcher table, but only 35 at a butcher spot.

Summary

Kibble is consumed for 0.05 nutrition per item. Kibble has 125% nutrition efficiency when produced at a butcher table, producing 2.5 nutrition per 2 nutrition from raw food. This drops to has 87.5% efficiency when produced at a butcher spot, producing only 1.75 nutrition per 2 nutrition from raw food.

Unlike most other foods, it does not rot. While it will still deteriorate if left outside and/or unroofed, it will not spoil even if left unrefrigerated.

Humans can eat kibble, but they'll get a −12 "Ate kibble" mood penalty. This is the only way for humans to eat hay. Kibble does not mask the mood penalties from eating human meat insect meat, or if the Ideology DLC is enabled, raw fungus, meaning humans will get all the relevant moodlets in addition to the one from the kibble itself.

Analysis

Both kibble and meals allow non-warg carnivores to eat some vegetables, and herbivores to eat meat, while being more efficient than raw food. While kibble isn't as nutrition efficient as meals (simple meals, 180% efficient; pemmican, 160% efficient), kibble has its unique advantages:

Nutrition

Kibble allows use of hay - haygrass is the plant with the highest yield per day, but cannot be turned into meals. Note that corn has a higher yield per grower work.
- In regular soil: hay turned into kibble is slightly worse for nutrition/tile/day than rice turned into simple meals, and slightly better than rice turned into pemmican. Rice surpasses hay for nutrition per day in rich soil, but hay will always be better for nutrition per work.
Animals will eat an entire meal, even if they would overeat. Kibble and pemmican satiate 0.05 nutrition/item, which greatly reduces overeating.
- For example, a chicken can only store 0.3 nutrition in their stomach; they would consume 5-6 kibble when hungry, but a full meal every time. The smaller an animal is, the larger the effect of overeating (minimal effect at size >= 1).
Kibble requires substantially less work time than other recipes.

Overall, kibble is nutritionally useful if you have spare hay, and better than simple meals for the purposes of small animals. It is much better than pemmican in terms of colonist work, even considering the extra food pemmican gives. Kibble also allows use of human meat and insect meat, without the micromanagement required for separating meals. (Though you could, for example, only set pemmican to be created with human meat, and forbid colonists in the Assign tab from eating it). There are other uses for kibble - see below.

Logistic

Kibble can be used for animal training, unlike meals.
Kibble never spoils, so you don't have to worry about it going bad from non-refrigeration.
Kibble can be made at a butcher's table, rather than requiring a fueled/powered kitchen.
Since there is no chance for food poisoning, producing kibble is a safe way to train a no/low skill cook.

Version history

0.13.1135 - Added.

Food

Meals: Chocolate • Fine meal (Carnivore, Vegetarian) • Kibble • Lavish meal (Carnivore, Vegetarian) • Nutrient paste meal • Packaged survival meal • Pemmican • Simple meal • Baby food
Raw food - Animal: Meat (Human, Insect) • Insect jelly • Milk • Hemogen pack
Raw food - Eggs: Cassowary egg (fert.) • Chicken egg (fert., unfert.) • Cobra egg (fert.) • Duck egg (fert., unfert.) • Emu egg (fert.) • Goose egg (fert., unfert.) • Iguana egg (fert.) • Ostrich egg (fert.) • Tortoise egg (fert.) • Turkey egg (fert.)
Raw food - Vegetarian: Agave fruit • Berries • Corn • Hay • Potatoes • Raw fungus • Rice • Toxipotatoes