Boomtown: Cattle Ranching

Notes on Cattle Driving

Transportation
of any goods are calculated in "trips". As a general rule, transporting
any good from the frontier to town, or from a frontier location to
another frontier location involves traveling 100 miles, which defines
the average trip.

Most wagons and similar methods of transport
can travel one "trip" in three days time. However, when transporting
cattle, only half that distance can be covered, so a cattle drive
covers 1 trip in 6 days time.

There are two basic methods of
Cattle Driving. One method is to transport cattle from the frontier
breeding ranches to another local location, such as a slaughter ranch.
This usually involves traveling up to 100 miles and can take up to 6
days. The average income for transporting cattle for one "trip" from
the frontier is $0.05 per cattle, however its very hard to acquire
large amounts of cattle that need to be transported.

The other
method is to transport cattle from the open range (far beyond what is
usually considered the frontier areas) where they have already been
"gathered", and herd them toward town or the frontier ranches. This
usually involves traveling up to 1000 miles and can take 60 days.
Driving cattle from the open range to the city or frontier (a distance
of "10 trips") is $0.50 per cattle.

These prices assume you are transporting cattle that you do not own. (Or paying someone to transport your cattle.)

"Recipe" for Cattle Gathering
...Can only be attempted on the open range (1000 miles distance).
...Produces +60 cattle over 30 days, ready for transport
...Requires 24 Labor (Hunting)
...Requires 15 Labor (Animal Husbandry)
...Requires 10 horses
...Requires 3 acres of fencing

"Recipe" for Cattle Driving
...Transports up to 600 cattle over 100 miles in 6 days.
...Requires 4 labor (Teamster) each day
...Requires 2 labor (Animal Husbandry) each day
...Requires 1 wagon(x5)
...Requires 6 horses


Notes on Maintaining Livestock (Cattle)

Each
unit of labor available allows you to feed and care for up to 6 adult
cattle (cows, or bulls, but not counting calves) each day. The amount
of labor consistently available each day determines the maximum number
of animals you can maintain at once.

In addition, cattle requires land. You can care for approximately 20 adult cattle with each acre of land.

If
you allow the animals to forage their own food, you will need
approximately 35 times this amount of land. If you do not allow the
animals to forage, you must provide the animals with livestock feed.
One 50 lb. bag of livestock feed is enough to feed up to 4 cattle per
day.

1 cattle needs ... 1/4 bag of livestock feed per day
1 cattle needs ... 1 bag of livestock feed per 4 days
1 cattle needs ... 8 bags of livestock feed per month
1 cattle needs ... 90 bags of livestock feed per year

A
calf takes one year to mature into an adult Bull or Cow. Approximately
half the calfs born will be Cows and the other half will be Bulls.

Bulls can be used as Breeding Bulls or Slaughter Cattle.
Cows can be used as Breeding Cows, Dairy Cows, or Slaughter Cattle.

Breeding Bulls, Breeding Cows, and Dairy Cows become Slaughter Cattle after 10 years.

Recipe for creating livestock feed
Produces +30 bags of livestock feed per day
...Requires 2 labor (Cooking)
...Requires 1 empty barrel
...Consumes 5 bags of corn
...Consumes 5 bags of barley
...Consumes 20 bags of wheat
Each bag of livestock feed can support one cattle for 4 days.

Cattle Breeding
...Produces +1 calf per year
...Requires 1 Breeding Bull (x25)
...Requires 1 Breeding Cow
The same single Breeding Bull can be used up to 25 times at once, for 25 Cattle Breeding recipes per year.

Butchering cows
...Produces +200 lb of fresh beef each day
...Requires 4 labor (Cooking) each day
...Requires 1 set of Butcher's Tools
...Consumes 1 adult cow

Aging slaughtered meat
...Produces +2 ice boxes of slaughtered meat every 9 days
...Consumes 2 ice boxes
...Consumes 200 lb of fresh beef

Butchering meat
Cutting raw meat up into servings.
...Produces +150 servings of meat per day
...Requires 5 labor (Cooking) each day
...Consumes 1 ice box of slaughtered meat

Milk Production
...Produces +3 pails of milk per day
...Requires 1 barn (x6)
...Requires 2 labor (Animal Handling) each day
...Requires 6 Dairy Cows
...Consumes 3 empty pails
The same barn can be used for multiple applications of this recipe, up to 6 Milk Production recipes per day.

Milk Storage (Bottling)
...Produces +25 bottles of milk per 4 hours
...Produces 4 empty pails
...Requires 1 labor (Cooking or Glassworking)
...Consumes 4 pails of milk
...Consumes 25 empty bottles

Milk Storage (Barrels)
...Produces +1 barrel of milk per hour
...Produces 8 empty pails
...Requires 1 labor (Cooking)
...Consumes 8 pails of milk
...Consumes 1 empty barrel

Milk Bottling (from barrels of milk)
...Produces +50 bottles of milk per 8 hours
...Produces 1 empty barrel
...Requires 1 labor (Cooking or Glassworking)
...Requires 1 empty pail
...Consumes 1 barrel of milk
...Consumes 50 empty bottles




Some Standard Prices Related to Cattle Ranching

Containers
1 Empty bottle = $0.04
1 Empty pail = $0.25
1 Empty barrel = $2.00
1 Empty Ice Box = $15.00

Standard Wholesale Prices
1 Calf (Infant cow or bull) = $10
1 Adult Cow / Bull = $150
1 Full Cow Hide = $3.00
1 Half Cow Hide = $1.50
1 Barrel of Milk = $7.00
1 Bottle of Milk = $0.21
1 Ice Box of Slaughtered Meat = $90
10 lb. of meat (cut into 15 servings) = $8.00

Standard Retail (General Store) Prices
1 Bottle of Milk (4 servings) = $0.30
2 lb. of Meat (3 servings) = $2.50

Standard Service (Tavern) Prices
1 Serving of Cooked Meat = $1.07
1 Serving of Cold Milk = $0.12