by bc84
For the record, I don't think it needs clarification from the publisher. The information is all there, and there is only one interpretation that makes sense.My confusion stemmed from one line in the rulebook:
Agricola rules on breeding wrote:
...receives exactly one additional (baby) animal of that type – but only if [it] can be accommodated...
It seemed to me that this could be interpreted as saying that animals will only breed if there's room for the offspring.
The rules go on to state that you can't eat baby animals anyway, so normally it's a moot point.
For the Early Riser, though, it could make a difference. Say it's harvest time and you have one stable, no pastures, and 2 sheep, and your family needs 2 food. Do you receive a lamb, which you can then cook? If you had another empty stable, you certainly would. But when there's no room for the lamb, it depends on your interpretation of the above quoted line.
Fortunately, it's easy to settle on the correct interpretation. If animals never bred without room, there would be no reason to state that baby animals can't be eaten. Therefore they do breed, and that "but only if" clause is harmlessly repeating the "baby animals are inedible (and can't be kept without room)" rule.
So really this part of the rulebook could be simplified to:[o]1. The phases of the Harvest are 1)Field, 2)Feeding, 3)Breeding.
2. Breeding Phase: For each animal type, if you have two or more of that type, you receive one more.
3. As stated elsewhere in the rules, animals that can't be accommodated must be returned to the general supply.
4. You can't convert animals to food during the Breeding Phase (unlike the Work Phase, when you can instantly convert animals that don't fit).[/o]