Witcher Wiki
Battery-Cage vs. Free-Range Humans
Tw3 questitem q702 cage breeding humans
Part two of a treatise entitled Human Husbandry and Care.
Description
Inventory/slot
Books
Category
Common item
Type
Other
Expansion
Blood and Wine
Source
Looted inside the Tesham Mutna Ruins.
Base price
crown(s)
Price to buy
1 crown(s)
Price to sell
1 crown(s)
Weight
0 weight

Associated quest[ | ]

Journal entry[ | ]

(...) In recent decades, many of us have come to believe that a much more effective way of obtaining good quality human blood than hunting individuals is their systematic, controlled husbandry. Apart from the obvious advantages, such as being able to control what the flock eats and the ability to crossbreed specific individuals to obtain offspring with the best hemoglobin, another clear advantage to breeding human flocks is that domesticated humans held in confinement, as opposed to those in their natural habitat (i.e. "villages" and "towns"), become less aggressive, and therefore less troublesome.
When it comes to farming humans, there are various schools, of which two seem to have gained the widest acceptance in recent times – namely battery-cage and free-range husbandry. This thesis describes in detail the advantages and disadvantages as well as the methods of carrying out each type of breeding. As an introduction, it is worth mentioning the basic differences between both types.
Battery-cage human husbandry (described very accurately and in detail in the book Human Husbandry) is the placing of several male and female individuals in a closed, restricted space, with permanent access to air, food and water. This form of breeding differs from free range in that the flock is not permitted to leave the breeding area and is held captive the entirety of their lives.
Free-range, on the other hand, involves leaving the flock in its natural habitat or creating a habitat that simulates it closely (i.e. creating villages, more on which can be found in the chapter – Human Villages: Establishing and Growing a Herd), and then making the herd psychologically or physically dependent on its owner. The most effective method for making a human individual dependent is guaranteeing it safety and permanent access to high quality feed. It is worth adding that a human that trusts its owner does not feel fear and does not defend itself when having its blood drunk, which limits the production of noradrenaline and cortisol, which have a negative impact on the taste of the blood. Furthermore, it may happen that a domesticated free-range human may feel a certain pleasure when its owner drinks its blood (most likely associated with sexual tension), which causes an intensification in the blood's flavor.

See also[ | ]