NPCs opening doors, farm animals fleeing

[PoisonPen]

Recruited a companion and went to milk the cows in the barn.  I have two doors, one of which has an "airlock" to keep the animals from escaping, while the other doesn't.  While milking a cow, my companion decided to open the other barn door and all my animals escaped, immediately dispersing in all directions.  Two separate problems here: NPCs opening doors on their own and just leaving them ajar, and supposedly tame, domesticated animals fleeing at top speed for the hills the instant they get free.

[Roheline]

Can you try building a paddock-like fence enclosure around the entrances to your barn? Or tie your cows in place to the barn walls?

[PoisonPen]

The whole point of a barn is to protect the animals from wildlife inside solid walls, so a paddock area just creates a headache every time you need to try to get the animals back inside to close the barn door.  And I don't think you can tie animals to walls, just trees.  The easiest thing to do is to fence off the doors so you have to climb the fence every time you want to open the door.  It works, but it's totally unimmersive.

[PALU]

You can build your stable around a tree (or several trees), obviously leaving that tile without a floor/roof, and tie your animals to the tree(s). It's a bit of an immersion breaker as well, but probably better than having to climb a fence.

[trento007]

I normally have my animals tied to various fences/trees (of which a fallen tree will still suffice) but I understand the want to let them roam about an open area, if I let them do so I make sure the entire area is enclosed by a fence.