Population control

[Tobruk]

How do I control the population of my critters automatically?

I want to:

•  make sure the population I'm ranching does not die out (if I set my egg cracker at continuous this will eventually happen)
•  get superfluous eggs and crack them (how do I do that?)
•  make sure the critters are not overpopulated

Thanks

[goboking]

Using hatches as an example, I build a hatchery with a drop-off point set to priority 5 and set to auto-wrangle anything over X.  I have an incubation room with the incubators set to continuously incubate hatch eggs at a priority 6 and a drop off point set to auto-wrangle anything over 0.  I have a storage compactor set to accept exactly one hatch egg at a priority of 5 to serve as a buffer, and I have an egg cracker set to continuously crack hatch eggs at a priority of 4.  Finally, I have a critter drop off point in a kill room (flooding using automated mechanical airlocks) set to priority 4.

So a when a hatch in the hatchery lays an egg, the egg is taken to an incubator if one is free, the storage compactor if it's empty, and finally the egg cracker if the above are already in use.  The egg in the compactor is taken to an incubator as soon as one becomes available.  A hatch from the incubator is taken to the hatchery if space permits, and the kill room if the hatchery is already full.  Once up and running, all of this is done with no input from me.

There are ways to automate all of this, but I find them unsightly, and I find a hands-on approach (for the dupes, not me) to be a bit more immersive.  Someone will probably be along shortly to help you out if you want to go full automation (as in no dupe time).

[Tenedas]

Have a look at this design i've made, it does exactly what you ask

Automated ranch

instead of cracking eggs you can directly have an hot pool of water that will cook them automatically. If you do it this way you lose the ability to bring eggs back in the hatchery from the pool should the population go any lower

i use it with dreckos too, the only attention is to have all the eggs laying on the reach of the population manager autosweeper so you will need to add additional autosweepers that just bring the egg on the lower floor of the ranch to keep the system consistent

hope you find it useful

[Deustodo]

It's rather simple, really

What I use is nothing more than linking one (or more) Critter sensors to a not gate and the latter to an incubator(s)  set those to continuous, once the population is above the value set on the sensor, they will activate and disable the incubators. 
For the eggs, is straight up just a sweeper that takes any eggs as soon as they are laid into a loader and sent to somewhere else outside of the stable, do it right and the critter will get the "cramped" debuff for like a second. 

For the eggs, just leave them inside a conveyor receptable, assuming that it is also near the incubators so a sweeper can just pick one and drop it inside them if needed. The eggs will eventually crack themselves out of boredom, and have either a Dupe pick the raw egg and cook it or send it to a hot pool of water to ... well ... you would be actually boiling the egg, but since that is not an option, it just fries itself instead. 
Also if you're hungry, here is some spaghetti

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