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[Urist McClown]

So, on my new fort in a Savage Jungle biome, my animals just seem to starve. The horses I first brought with me have died before they could be slaughtered. Several animals brought by the dwarves had to be butchered asap not to die. And the sheep that I wanted to keep as a source of wool and milk are also starting to get hungry on their pasture.

I have no active burrows, and the pasture in question is around 150 tiles large, so it should be enough for 4 sheep.

How do I fix this?

[Saiko Kila]

150 tiles big pasture can hold dozens of sheep. Current version is much more forgiving than the past ones, and for animals the size of sheep or goat even hanging around moss tiles in corridors would be enough to survive, without any pasture. Additionally, even without pasturing all animals should be okay for some time (about three months actually, plenty of time to butcher them). Single sheep eats 5-6x times less than a single horse.

You sure you have actual grass?

[Urist McClown]

I know, but I decided to go for an oversized pasture on purpose to eliminate the possibility of overcrowding (and I intend to keep a sizable herd, those four are just the beginning)

It's a jungle biome, so I'd have thought it should have grass... But instead of "Dense Dropseed Grass" or something along those lines, the tiles are just called "Grass"?!? What's going on there?

[Loci]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=148388.msg6022758#msg6022758

[PatrikLundell]

There is a parameter for grazing efficiency (exported through the LNP UI, but that means it's a value is a file). I'd start by checking that value to see if it's somehow screwed up. I know the generic "grass" can somehow appear underground without there being a breach in the roof, but I've heard no indication that it wouldn't provide support for grazers (but isolated single tiles doesn't really matter).
I'm probably stating what you know already, but grazers need vegetation to graze, so if the ground starts to get exposed outside of individual tiles, that's a warning sign. Sometimes animals can cluster in bare areas even though the rest of the pasture is covered by vegetation. If the animals are distracted they have a tendency to abandon the pasture to roam the fortress, and there's not much food grown on bare rock...

If every tile on your pasture is just generic "grass" I would expect something to be wrong somewhere, possibly screwed up RAWs through a tile set or mod (and Loci provided a link to such a problem while I wrote this). Also, pastures tend to have occasional herbs and saplings growing on them (the exception I know if is muddied obsidian casts above surface level shorn away, where various normal grasses grew, but never any saplings or herbs). If those never show up something is wrong.

I'd also double check that the pasture zone is correctly set up to cover the whole intended area, and doesn't just happen to cover a small patch.
You might try an underground fungi covered grazing ground if you've breached the caverns.

[Libash_Thunderhead]

I noticed they tend to crowd in one corner of a big pasture zone instead of spreading out. Is it possible for them to eat up the grass in that corner and starve?

[Urist McClown]

There is a parameter for grazing efficiency (exported through the LNP UI, but that means it's a value is a file). I'd start by checking that value to see if it's somehow screwed up. I know the generic "grass" can somehow appear underground without there being a breach in the roof, but I've heard no indication that it wouldn't provide support for grazers (but isolated single tiles doesn't really matter).
I'm probably stating what you know already, but grazers need vegetation to graze, so if the ground starts to get exposed outside of individual tiles, that's a warning sign. Sometimes animals can cluster in bare areas even though the rest of the pasture is covered by vegetation. If the animals are distracted they have a tendency to abandon the pasture to roam the fortress, and there's not much food grown on bare rock...

If every tile on your pasture is just generic "grass" I would expect something to be wrong somewhere, possibly screwed up RAWs through a tile set or mod (and Loci provided a link to such a problem while I wrote this). Also, pastures tend to have occasional herbs and saplings growing on them (the exception I know if is muddied obsidian casts above surface level shorn away, where various normal grasses grew, but never any saplings or herbs). If those never show up something is wrong.

I'd also double check that the pasture zone is correctly set up to cover the whole intended area, and doesn't just happen to cover a small patch.
You might try an underground fungi covered grazing ground if you've breached the caverns.

The grazing parameter is fine. My pasture is also currently over ground (haven't had the time yet to breach the caverns; those are also 50 Urist down, going by the roadar...) The sheep do tend to trample the grass instead of eating it, though; I'm losing it at a far more frequent rate than usual. And yes, all the tiles are either "Grass" or some herb. So there seems to be a mod problem. However, I'm playing a game relatively light on mods (really, all I do is use LNP utilities like Therapist or Legends Viewer, a tileset and that's already about it. I don't think that should be making that much of a difference (?).

So, having diagnosed the problem as a mod problem, but not knowing which mod is responsible how do I dress, suture and clean the wound go about fixing that?

[PatrikLundell]

If you're not using mods (DT and Legends Viewer are tools, not mods) I would have guessed the tile set. However, the LNP usually is set up correctly for those. There is a problem with the DFHack command open-legends which apparently can result in save corruption manifesting a long time afterwards of invoked in fortress mode, exited, and DF is then saved, but that's not a subtle one.
Have you switched tile sets, and which one do you use? I'm afraid I can't help, but I'd expect those with more expertise would like to know these things. Also, I would assume you're using LNP 0.42.06 r2, but stating the version explicitly might help guide fault finding.
And have you modified things with DFHack? I believe reveal/unreveal can have nasty side effects, for instance.

[Urist McClown]

I'm using Phoebus Tileset set up by LNP 42.06-r2, yes. I never had trouble with Phoebus before.

I do use DFHack, but only very sparingly: I only use the exportlegends and the prospect options before embark to get the legends_plus file for LegendsViewer and in order to make a more informed choice with regards to my embark spot. DFHack remains unused during actual gameplay.

[King Kitteh]

I just read that if you cause a cave and drop tiles with grass. Then the grasses will turn into indistinguishable "grass" tiles.

Did you collapse the area that you're using as a pasture? Because if you did then maybe that's why.

[Urist McClown]

No, I didn't.

The grass is everywhere on the surface. No distinction, just generic "Grass" that my grazers fail to eat whereever the are.

[Goatmaan]

You could build dirt roads to "clean" the grass, and see if edible stuff replaces it.
That will take time tho.
Or just single stair down to open the caverns.
4 sheep? Shear, milk, slaughter while waiting.

  Goatmaan

[King Kitteh]

If it's got grass on it, that means it's open to the surface. So I don't think floor fungus and stuff will ever grow on it.

[PatrikLundell]

If it's got grass on it, that means it's open to the surface. So I don't think floor fungus and stuff will ever grow on it.

True, but releasing the spores allows for an underground fungal based pasture.