Livestock fatten faster when tasked on a Pen. Trains Sheep.
”
—In-game description
The Livestock Pen is an economic building in Age of Empires III. It trains livestock which can be tasked to the Livestock Pen to make them fatten at a faster rate.
Instead of the Livestock Pen, Native American civilizations have access to the Farm, which combines its function with a Mill. The Chinese have the Village, which combines its function with a House. The African civilizations have the Livestock Market, which combines its function with a Market. The Mexicans have the Hacienda, which combines the functions of a Livestock Pen with a Mill and an Estate. The Indians have the Sacred Field that increases the experience generation rate of their livestock instead of food gathering purposes.
Livestock Pens allow the training of Sheep and effectively cut the fattening time of most livestock down from 30 minutes to around 5–6 minutes. However, they are less common than gathering food directly at the Mill, especially in Supremacy. This is due to the more complicated mechanics of gathering from herdables, such as the upfront cost of invested food that cannot be used to train units.
The main use cases of Livestock Pens are being given by shipments, making use of animals gained through shipments, and breaking extreme stalemates by managing to increase the total resource production and xp production (from training units with the food) high enough to push down buildings. Many revolutions have shipments which make the player deal with livestock. Some minor civilizations make the player deal with livestock, such as the Tengri Shrine.
Notably, the Homestead Wagon given by some livestock shipments, such as 15 Sheep + 1 Homestead Wagon, can be used to build other buildings like Estates, Haciendas, and Mills instead of Livestock Pens. This results in a much greater saving of wood, more immediate impact, and the ability to research the improvements of those buildings earlier. This is important to note, as it can seem like the Homestead Wagon is intended to build a Livestock Pen to synergize with the herdables shipped. Regardless, the player may build Livestock Pens themselves, without using the wagon, just to make use of the herdables.
If there is a 5-6 minute period for livestock to be fattened at the pen, such as during a Treaty match where military units are not required, livestock can be used as a worthwhile investment to multiply one's food. It is easy to adjust the amount of food and Settler time invested by training more livestock units. The Fulling Mills card indirectly relates to this building by making it 4× faster to gather from herdables, saving villager time, reducing waste to spoilage, and freeing them to do other tasks.
Many revolts have access to a modified Comanchero unit. These all cost food instead of coin (except for Mexico's Cuerudos), take one population, can build Livestock Pens, train Cows, and gather from livestock.
Since update 20322, the Japanese can build one (and only one) Livestock Pen by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate, allowing them to ship a Livestock Pen Wagon. The Japanese Livestock Pen can train Goats, that cannot be gathered by Japanese Villagers, but may be tasked to Shrines.
With update 47581, the Livestock Pen built by the Japanese by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate now use the Western European (same as Dutch) architecture set.
With update 13.27885, Livestock Pens cost 150 wood, give 30 XP when built, and 60 XP when destroyed.
History[]
“
Keeping animals was important to the founding of the New World, especially as areas became settled and hunting became less abundant. Animals were used for food, but they had other uses as well. Fat from animals was used to make soap, the skins were used for clothing, and tallow was used in candles. Tallow was also used to keep leather supple and water-resistant.
”
Gallery[]
In-game Mediterranean/Southern European Livestock Pen in the Commerce/Fortress Age with a Cow tasked
In-game European Livestock Pen in the Exploration Age in the Definitive Edition
In-game Mediterranean/Southern European Livestock Pen in the Commerce/Fortress Age in the Definitive Edition
In-game Mediterranean/Southern European Livestock Pen in the Industrial/Imperial Age in the Definitive Edition
Sheep
Goat
Cow
Llama
Selective Breeding
State Constitutions (+25%; United States only)
Flying Buttress (+20%)
Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
Gas Lighting (+4)
Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)
Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
Livestock Pen Wagon (delivers 1 Livestock Pen Wagon; Japanese only)
Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost; John Black's Mercenaries only)
Code Napoleon (+25% cost; French only)
Improved Buildings
TEAM Improved Buildings
Ranching
Land Grab
Land Reforms
Llama Ranching
Monumental Architecture
Chipotle Tactics
Connecticut Shipwrights
The Alamo
Age of Empires III[]
