Overview
Since there does not seem to be a ton of information posted for this game at this time (5/27/2021) I thought I would make my own guide on this game for others to benefit from. I fully expect a lot if not most of this information to change over the course of early access but I will attempt to keep this updated.
Animals
At the time of writing this (5/27/2021), there are three types of animals available for raising in this game: Chickens, Pigs, and Cows.
Chickens can live inside of the buildable coops, in the barn, or in a free range manner using fences made from placed obstacles (like logs for example).
Pigs and Cows can live in the barn or – like the chickens – free range in player-made corrals.
All animals will attempt to escape any open door whether this be in the barn (even in the barn cells) or in the coop. They will however wander back to get food and water from wherever you have it placed.
All animals do go to sleep between about 21:00 and 8:00. During this time, pigs and cows can be woken up using the manage tool but chickens will fall asleep again if you put them down.
Chickens
Chickens are available from the General Store for purchased and can be placed into any vehicle to be transported to your ranch. Hens are $50 each and Roosters are $250 each.
The hens are available in three colors and chicks will be the same color as the mother that laid the egg.
The roosters are available in two colors.
When kept in mixed company, roosters will fertilize an egg left by the hens at around 10:00am-10:30am. This is typically one egg per rooster.
All hens will lay a single egg each in the afternoon between 16:00-16:30. These eggs can be gathered individually by hand or with the egg basket which you can buy from the General Store for $10.
Chickens will eat bags of wheat from the general store. These are purchased for $30 per bag.
These wheat bags can be placed into a trough or spread by pressing E on the bag when it is placed on the ground. Your chickens will also need water either placed into a trough or out of a filled bucket. (Buckets could be either wood or steel, both purchased at the General Store for $8 each.)
Chickens can be killed using the handgun or the stunner which is available at the General Store for $insert price. They can then be skilled and produce chicken or rooster meat. This meat can be sold or made into meatballs or sausage.
Breeding Chickens
To distinguish between fertilized and unfertilized eggs you would need to utilize an Ovoscope. These are available for $100 at the General Store.
The eggs are placed in one of four slots and when the ovoscope is turned on, the egg will illuminate which will allow you to see if there is a dark spot on the egg with veining around it.
One other trick to tell if an egg is fertilized is to pick it up and wait for the mother to attack you. I am still unsure if you could die from a chicken attack but it will splatter blood all over your screen so at least you’ll know you’ve been bit.
Fertilized eggs will take three days to hatch in to a chick and 5 days after to grow into an adult. These chicks can grow into either a hen or a rooster but hen seems to be the most common.
Pigs
At this time (5/27/2021), Pigs are the most profitable animal you can raise. There is currently no male or female pigs – just pigs – and you cannot breed them. However this will be added in the near future. Currently you can purchase them from the General Store for $300 each and they can be loaded into all vehicles except for the ATV, SUV, and Sedan.
Pigs are very easy to keep. They don’t need any daily maintenance other than making sure food and water is available. Pigs eat bags of wheat from the General Store priced at $30 per bag.
Every time a pig eats, it will grow a little bit bigger. This will continue until the pig reaches full size approximately 6-8 game days later.
At full size, pigs will drop 26 pieces of pork when slaughtered. To kill them, you can either use your handgun or the stunner which is available at the General Store for $439.
Pork can then be sold or made into sausage or meat balls.
Cows
Cows are available from the General Store for $650 each and are available in three different colors.
These can be loaded into either the small or large pickup trucks or the small truck (box truck).
Currently no breeding is available for cows but this will likely come in a later update.
Cows currently do not grow fatter so slaughtering them is not profitable. The price of the meat they drop does not cover the price of the cow but I do expect that this would change at some point. To slaughter them, you can use the handgun or the stunner available from the General store for $439. They can then be butchered into beef which can be sold or made into meatballs or sausage.
Like pigs and chickens, cows need to have food and water available at all times. Cows eat bags of wheat which you can buy from the General Store for $30 per bag.
Cows can be milked twice a day using a bucket (either wood or steel available at the General Store for $8 each) and this bucket can then be emptied into a Milk Can which can be purchased from the General Store for $135.
To milk a cow, pick up bucket and walk up to the cow. There should be a green outline of a bucket below the udders and you press E to install bucket on cow. Once the bucket is installed, the cow will stop moving so pick your spot wisely. Next, hold down E to begin milking. You press A and D when the keys light up to milk. 12 key presses fully milks the cow and then press E to leave the milking action. Then pick up the bucket to take your milk.
WARNING – I have gotten stuck on the walls of the barn many times while milking. You will always milk the cow on the same side where their tail is on the left side of you regardless of where you were standing when you started the milking action. You will stand up on this side and occasionally clip into the wall. To get out, pick up the bucket, wait for the cow to walk away a little bit, put the bucket back on and start milking again then leave the milking again. This should bring you out from the wall.
There is an excellent video example of this by MickBX. It wasn’t his intention to show this maneuver in the first 30 seconds but it might be helpful so I will share it here.
Milk can be sold as-is or can be used in the making of meatballs, sausage or cheese which I will cover later in this guide.
Buildings
Buildings are getting a large update by the end of June where they can be built wherever you would like. However at this time (5/27/2021), there is capacity for three chicken coops (one of these spots is only big enough for a medium coop at the largest), one barn, your house, and a radio tower.
To build, walk up to one of the caution-taped marked spots and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to pick which building you would like to purchase. These marked spots will have to be cleared of trees and grass using your axe and mower before you can build on them. To confirm building, press and hold E.
Houses and the Barn are built using planks made by processing logs in the sawmill. Tip: planks can be carried three at a time so use that to your advantage while building and loading.
The coops and the radio tower do not require any planks. You also do not need planks for any internal upgrades to a building such as troughs or barn cells.
Coops
There are four coops available for building: Small, Medium, Big, and Premium.
One of the three coop slots is only big enough for the small or medium coop but the other two can accommodate any of those sizes.
Small coops cost $100 to build and can hold 3 chickens comfortably. You can also add a feeding trough to this for $100. This trough has tubes that lead outside of the coop so that you can add food and water without opening the door.
Medium coops cost $250 to build and can hold 8 chickens. You can add a trough to this for $100. This trough has tubes that lead outside of the coop so that you can add food and water without opening the door.
Big coops cost $500 to build and can hold 20 chickens. I have gotten a few more in there but it does get crowded. You can add a trough to this for $100. These troughs do not have tubes leading outside so for best results, add food and water after chickens have gone to sleep (after about 21:30 at night) or build a fence around the entrance of the coop with logs and planks. This coop has four drawers around the sides which can be used to access eggs.
Premium coops cost $750 to build and can hold 20 chickens. You can add a trough to this for $100. Like, the big coop, there are no tubes connecting the troughs outside so for the fewest escapes, feed and water your chickens late at night or build a fence around the entrance with logs and planks. Unlike the big coops, the premium coops do not have drawers. The eggs can be accessed by opening the doors on the top part of the hutch (much like the troughs, it is best to do this at night).
Barn
The base barn can be purchased for $900 and requires 28 planks for building.
Once built, the barn comes without two side doors and the front door. These would need to be purchased. Barn Main Door $125, Side Doors $75 each.
You can add a trough to the barn for $100. You can also add an auto-feeder system to your barn for $250. This adds a grain silo and a well that will keep your troughs in the barn full. Grain would need to be purchased before it will add food to the troughs.
To do this, walk up to the silo and press and hold E. First initial purchase of grain would be $300 and then it can be refilled occasionally as needed.
Barn can be expanded three more times for $125. These expansions are the only barn add-ons that also require 14 planks per expansion to be built.
Once the barn has been expanded at least once, Barn cells can be built for $125 each. This would allow you to close off animals from the rest of the barn. You can also add feed troughs to these for $75 each. These troughs connect automatically to the auto-feeder system if you have it. Your barn has the capacity for 6 barn cells in total.
You can also build a corral outside the barn for $150. This greatly expands your usable area for your animals and is well worth it especially if you have lots of really fat pigs in your barn.
Fully upgraded the barn costs $3250 and requires 70 planks but the base price for a usable barn without a way to escape is $1175 and 28 planks.
Radio Tower
The radio tower can be built for $250 and currently does not have any other use than making the radio in your house operational. Unlike the cars, you cannot change the station so only do it if you would like to hear the classical station while you are doing your cooking.
Well
The well gives you access to unlimited water for your animal care and cooking needs. This can be built for $100 and requires a bucket to be placed in it for it to work. Water is drawn out manually and so you will need to “crank” with your mouse to get the water out.
Houses
Houses are used as a save and sleep spot but also for cooking and processing.
The first house you build in the tutorial costs $500 and requires wood planks to build. Once the tutorial is over, there are three other houses you could replace them with. These houses would also require more wood planks.
Each home comes with different amounts of cheese and drying racks so I will list the price of the house as well as the amount of cheese racks, drying racks, and beds in each one. Each house comes with only two spots on the stove. I will also list the amount of wood planks each house requires to build.
Nema Lass posted a video tour of all of the available houses. If you would like a little more of an in-depth look than the pictures below, please check out this video.
Farmhouse PH-2
Price: $500
Planks: 23
Drying Racks: 1
Cheese Racks: 2
Beds: 1
Farmhouse PH-4
Price: $3500
Planks: 28
Drying Racks: 2
Cheese Racks: 3
Beds: 2
Farmhouse PH-6
Price: $4500
Planks: 35
Drying Racks: 2
Cheese Racks: 4
Beds: 2
Retro Farmhouse
Price: $9500
Planks: 64
Drying Racks: 3
Cheese Racks: 4
Beds: 3
Other Ranch Buildings
There are two other buildings on the ranch that come pre-built when you start your game. These both have a purpose during the tutorial sequence but no other designated use during gameplay. This may change in future updates.
These buildings are the garage and the warehouse.
The Garage:
The Warehouse:
The main use I have seen other players use these buildings for is raising animals like pigs and chickens before you have a barn or a coop. Food and water can be placed here for the animals and they will produce normally in this space so this makes a very good alternative to building those expensive buildings in your early game. Of course these could also be used as storage buildings.
Town Buildings
There are currently four locations around town to get goods and services. The hardware store displayed on the map is currently an empty building but will be made usable in an upcoming update.
All buildings except for the gas station open at 8 and close at 21:00
General Store
The general store is where you can purchase your animals and tools for running your ranch. To purchase items, use the terminal in the front of the store to select items to add to your cart. Once your purchase is completed, these items will be dumped (literally dumped like they go all over the place) on the shopping cart pad on the side of the store. Animals will spawn in the semi-circle corral next to the shopping cart pad.
Since the corral is not closed, the animals will promptly attempt to escape into the woods and ruin your day. In light of that it is best to prepare if you are buying animals and have your vehicle completely empty before purchasing them. This will save you precious time as animals bigger than a chicken cannot be loaded into a vehicle that has any items in it. Also it may be a good idea to purchase your animals one at a time so that you can catch them. Having a friend to lend a hand helps too.
The general store can also purchase your items as well. If you have all of the items you would like to purchase loaded on your vehicle, simply drive over the shopping cart pad on the side of the building and then head inside and use the sell tab on the terminal to sell your goods. You can also sell objects by dropping them onto the pad. The General store will also buy containers and tools if they are empty and on the pad.
General Store Menu
Chicken: $50
Rooster: $250
Pig: $300
Cow: $650
Cooler: $96
Crowbar: $12
Axe: $34
Hammer: $24
Pan: $66
Egg Basket: $10
Water Tank: $30
Bag of Wheat: $30
Milk Can: $135
Stunner: $439
Bullets x24: $40
Manual Meat Grinder: $199
Manual Sausage Stuffer: $235
Electric Meat Grinder: $1435
Electric Sausage Stuffer: $999
White Mold: $125
Blue Mold: $230
Ovoscope: $100
Inflatable Mattress: $15
Steel Bucket (two styles): $8
Wood Bucket: $8
Jerrycan: $25
Drivable Lawnmower: $1000
Small Trailer: $600
Car Trailer: $2100
Gas Station
The gas station is the only place on the map where you can refill your vehicles and jerry cans (jerry cans can be purchased at the General Store for $25 and hold 40 liters). Only the front right pump works but can be used on either side. Gas is $1 per liter. Every vehicle has a different fill capacity.
Car Shop
This is where you can purchase different vehicles. At the moment, no vehicles can be sold but they can be modified by driving them into the garage around the back of the shop. This building also hosts the real estate area but no services are available for this at this location at this time.
To purchase a vehicle, interact with the monitor in front of the sales person and select the vehicle you would like to purchase.
In the garage in the back of the shop, you can modify the color of your vehicle as well as install all the different options that are available for that vehicle (roof rack, flood lights, radio, etc.)
Insert pic of garage.
Burger Restaurant
Although you can’t buy any burgers here (bummer), this is an excellent place to sell your items. There is a loading zone on the back of the building and an area with a monitor showing the specials of the day.
There are three items every day that this shop will buy for additional money. It is best practice to sell all of your goods there regularly because even if it is not an item on special, it will sell for the same price as the general store. To sell, use the terminal around the corner from this monitor. Unfortunately there is no way to check these specials remotely so you will have to drive up to it and check.
Vehicles
All vehicles (with the exception of the one you put back together at the ranch) are purchasable from the Car Shop across from the burger restaurant. Each vehicle has a different capacity for fuel and loaded items as well as animals. Although I cannot quantify the loaded cargo space or the fuel tank space (let me know if anyone knows this though), the animal loading space is listed on the menu page for each vehicle at the car shop.
Keep in mind that chickens are not accounted for in the animal loading. Chickens work much like cargo and all of the vehicles are able to handle at least one chicken.
UTV
Price: 800
Animal Loading: 2 pigs max
Upgrades: Radio for $10
Tow Hitch: Yes
Small Pickup
Price: $800
Animal Loading: 2 Pigs or 1 Pig and 1 Cow
Upgrades: None
Tow Hitch: Yes
Upgraded:
Large Pickup
Price: $1600
Animal Loading: 2 Pigs or 1 Pig and 1 Cow
Upgrades: Roof Rack and Flood Lights package for $100
Tow Hitch: Yes
SUV
Price: $1000
Animal Loading: None
Upgrades: None
Tow Hitch: Yes
Sedan
Price: $600
Animal Loading: None
Upgrades: None
Tow Hitch: Yes
ATV
Price: $500
Animal Loading: None
Upgrades: None
Tow Hitch: Yes
Small Truck
Price: $2500
Animal Loading: 4 Pigs or 4 Cows
Upgrades: None
Tow Hitch: None
Cooking
All animal products can be sold as is but are more profitable when processed. There are currently 4 products that can be processed from your meat and dairy and those are meatballs, sausages, curd, and cheese.
Sausage and meatballs can be made from chicken, beef, or pork. No processed foods can be made with wild meat. This must be sold as is. The price will change according to the type of meat that was used.
Sausage and meatballs can be enhanced by the addition of an egg or some milk. One egg can be used per product and 2 liters of milk used per product. This will add to the price of the product more than the milk or egg would sell for on their own.
Milk can be used to make curd and cheese. An egg can also be added to curd or cheese to increase the price when sold.
Instructions for making these products below.
Nema Lass posted a great video walking through all of the cooking recipes so please check this out as well. She also made a video that outlines how to get the most money per liter of milk so take a look at that one to get an idea of how milk would modify your recipes.
Meatballs
To make this, you need a pot ($66 each), and a meat grinder (manual $99, electric $1435)
Place a piece of meat into the meat grinder and place the pot into the green highlighted spot next to the grinder.
Then grind the meat and it will appear in the pot. At this stage you can add egg, milk, or both into the pot.
To grab the meatball press E on the pot and the meatball will appear in your hand. This can either be sold raw or dry it by hanging it on one of the highlighted spots under the drying rack in your home.
Sausage
To make this you need a pot ($66 each), a meat grinder (manual $99, electric $1435) and a sausage stuffer (manual $235, electric $999).
Place a piece of meat into the meat grinder and place the pot into the green highlighted spot next to the grinder
Then grind the meat and it will appear in the pot. At this stage you can add egg, milk, or both into the pot.
WARNING – if you press E on the pot, you will just get a meatball so be careful!
To get a sausage grab the WHOLE POT by clicking on it and press E on the sausage stuffer to insert the ground meat.
Then use the sausage stuffer to produce a roll of sausage. This can either be dried by hanging it on one of the highlighted spots under the drying rack or it can be boiled.
To boil the sausage you need to fill a pot with water from a bucket. Place this water-filled pot onto one of the highlighted places on the stove. Then, add your sausage to the water and press E on the pot to begin cooking.
Curd and Cheese
There are three different kinds of curd/cheese: regular, white mold, and blue mold.
Regular:
White Mold:
Blue Mold:
The white mold can be purchased from the general store for $125 and blue mold can be purchased for $230. You will also need milk and a pot ($66 each).
Pour milk from a bucket or a milk can into a pot. For white or blue mold, take your selected packet of mold and add it to the pot. Each packet has 5 uses and each pot is one use. You can also add an egg to the pot to increase the price of the product.
Place this pot on one of the green highlighted spaces on the stove. Press E to begin cooking.
Remove curd from pot. This can be sold as-is or dried into cheese by placing it on one of the drying racks in your home.
Hunting
One of the best ways to earn money in the early days is by hunting. Ranch Simulator currently has three animals: Wolves, deer, and bears. During the tutorial, you will pick up the handgun and some ammo from the chest in the attic of the old farmhouse. To purchase additional ammo, visit the general store and pick them up for $40 a pack. Each pack contains 24 rounds.
Wolves
Wolves are the rarest animals to find on the map in my experience and they are spread thinly throughout it. If a wolf spots you, it will chase after you making it very easy to get a shot. However, they can kill you and this will force you to load a previous save and lose your progress since you last used a save spot. They don’t outrun you as long as you aren’t running backwards. Wolves go down with one shot from the handgun and produce two pieces of wild meat.
Deer
Deer are the more abundant animals on the map and there are several hot spots where deer can commonly be found. Deer can also be chased down by wolves or bears so be sure to look out for those. Deer typically take somewhere between 1 and three shots to kill and produce three pieces of wild meat
Bears
Bears are only found in the southern corner of the map between the road by the lake and the railroad tracks. There is a house in that corner surrounded by a fence that is a great landmark to look out for. Bears have also spawned for me inside that fence so if you see them in there be sure to kite them to the edge of the fence so you can butcher them and reach the meat (and yes you can do that). Bears will chase you if they spot you so they are very easy to shoot and go down with four shots. When butchered they will produce 4 wild meat.
Early Game Hunting
For best results with early game money-making, head to that southern corner of the map and drive between the road and the railroad tracks, looking into the woods on both sides for the bears. Typically I can get two bears before I need to either head home for the day or find a bus stop to save and reload to make more spawn. I have had up to four bears in that area however. For best results, buy coolers as soon as possible so that you can haul all your meat back efficiently. That got me most of my money until I got my barn and pigs up and running. As always, be sure to sell them at the burger place and if you can, hold onto them until theres a special for wild meat.
Special Thanks!
I want to give credit to Nema Lass whose videos I have used for information countless times and I’ve gotten her permission to link in a few spots in this guide. Please take a look at her videos on youtube, she’s got lots of Ranch Sim content and is a great contributor to the community!
Please take a look at the link below and check out her channel!
Thanks for reading!
This is my first guide I’ve made so please let me know if there is anything I can add or make better and please feel free to leave a comment. I do plan on adding a few things to this and updating it with current updates so please rate and favorite!
This is all about Ranch Simulator – Ranch Simulator Complete Guide; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!
- All Ranch Simulator Posts List
Leave a Reply