Probably Stolen Livestock Feed Dispenser: How It Works
Drop whole food into the dispenser and it stores the calories (up to 40,000 kcal) for your rats and fish. Animals only eat when hunger falls below 75% of maximum, and then fill up to the feeding target (85% by default). Peat is the cheapest feed per calorie; never feed rats rat meat.
On this page
Feed Dispenser at a glance
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Base price | 300 Credits |
| Size | 9 cells (3 × 3) |
| Storage | Up to 40,000 kcal |
| Input grid | 6 × 4 — whole food items must fit |
| Sold by | Retired Rat Rancher (with Ranching) and Retired Aquafarmer (with Aquaculture) |
How animals eat from it
- 01
Load whole food
Any whole food item works, including cans. It is converted into stored calories with no loss. Live animals and fish put in are killed and stored as meat portions.
- 02
Turn on auto-grinding if you want
Auto-grind is off by default. When on, it processes food as soon as you insert it, not only at night.
- 03
Set the feeding target
The default is 85% of maximum hunger, adjustable from 0–100% in 5-point steps.
- 04
Animals eat below 75%
An animal with 500 max hunger starts eating below 375 and fills to 425 with the default target. A higher target does not change the 75% trigger.
Who eats what
Calories are drawn proportionally from every allowed reserve, not one type first. A full dispenser can still starve a carnivorous fish if all the stock is Nutrifruit.
| Animal | Can eat |
|---|---|
| Rats | Everything except the two fish-feed reserves |
| Carnivorous fish | Meat only |
| Herbivorous fish | Everything except meat |
| Omnivorous fish | All eligible categories |
Cheapest feed
| Feed | Calories | Base value | Credits per 1,000 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peat | 800 kcal | 25 | ≈ 31 |
| Nutrifruit | 300 kcal | 12 | 40 |
Growing your own Nutrifruit in a Hydroponic System is the usual way to feed rats without buying Peat.
Prion risk
Meat from the same species keeps its prion contamination until that species’ meat stock is empty — mixing in clean meat does not dilute it. Feeding rat meat back to rats is the classic way to spread it, and it also gives up meat you could sell.
Emptying the dispenser discards all stored calories and contamination markers without returning any food.
Common questions
How does the Livestock Feed Dispenser work?
It turns whole food into stored calories (max 40,000 kcal). Rats and fish draw from it when their hunger drops below 75% and fill up to the feeding target.
Why are my rats not eating from the dispenser?
Their hunger must be under 75% of maximum and below your feeding target. Also check that the stored food is a type they can eat.
Can I feed rats rat meat?
You can, but same-species meat carries prion risk that stays until that meat reserve is empty. Avoid it.
Sources & version notes
Community game-data research. Sources reviewed October 31, 2026. This guide does not claim an independent in-game test.
- Nico Wiki: Livestock Feed Dispenser
Capacity, feeding trigger and target, diet buckets, feed costs, prion rule and vendors.
- Nico Wiki: growing & ranching
Rat and fish context.