do silkworm eggs die?

[martinuzz]

When left in the herbalist table for about 16 hours..?
Or did someone steal my silkworm eggs?

[Avu]

if you leave them on tables they turn to worms and those die unless you feed them

[martinuzz]

OKay.. So how do I keep them alive if I cannot log in for a day? Keep them as eggs, not in the herb table?

[Kasakun]

yes. eggs don't die if left alone. Just be sure to not put them on your herb table if you can't log in to check on them in 8 hours.

[Rhiannon]

I am always very careful as to when I begin the process. From egg to worm to cocoon to birth(back to egg)/unravel...it all takes quite a bit of time so you have to plan ahead (also factor in the risk, the frequent server crashes, if they happen at the right time can cost you if you miss the appropriate stage times so try to have a nice large stash of eggs to keep your stock, meaning breed a good 30-50 or so eggs before using any of them to unravel). So try to think about your schedule. Knowing that when you put the eggs on the table you will have about 12-14 hours until they become worms, go ahead and have the appropriate amount of leaves waiting in a cubbard, (that's 4 leaves per worm so calcualte it according to how many eggs you hatch/put into the table, I use 8 eggs per hatch = 24 leaves), so that you can get the worms into it. If they go 4 cycles (2 hours each) without eating they will die on you. So try to NOT let them make it to cycle 4 with no food (8 hours). Long as you get them food before then they will begin the 4 cycle process and go into cocoon stage. At this point you must also decide whether to let them hatch or unravel them for fibers.

SO as you see, the process is one that takes planning with your schedule to ensure it works. I've never lost any, but with the server crashes I've come close. Just judge when next you can log in and then decide what the best time is to place them on table to begin the process. My trick is that when I want to do an 8 egg cycle, I do it soon after i wake up for the day, knowing I can be up and able to get them into my food cubbard before I go to bed. Then the next day they will be cocoons and i can decide to unravel or let them hatch/breed for more eggs.

Another tip. I use my lowest eggs for unraveling sessions, and my highest eggs for hatch/breeding sessions to continue to increase the quality of my eggs.

[martinuzz]

Yeah.. I had already bred my 4th generation, starting with only 5 coccoons. I had twenty eggs in the herb table already yesterday.
I unravelled some of the lowest quality coccoons as well, and had 2 cupboards with enough leaves waiting to put the hatched eggs in.
My mistake was that I thought that the worms did not require food until I took them out of the herbalist table.

Know better now. Anyone, care to trade me some silkworm eggs? I can offer food (Rings of Brodgar quality 20+, Pirozhiki's quality 20+) and in a day or 2, also bottles/ glasses of wine. We could meet in Novigrad.

[Kasakun]

I'll have some spare eggs depending on if my next round of cocoons hatch in even gender numbers.

[martinuzz]

Nice! Just let me know, I'll be online for another hour or 3-4.

EDIT: That is, if the server decides to come back online

[Kasakun]

pm'd

[martinuzz]

EDIT: nvm got the pm. must have been delayed