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[Kaiser Reinhard]

I have enough animals and land that every pasture lasts me about one year before the animals begin to starve and are then moved to another one. however, regrowth rate for grass is painfully slow. It's been three years since my first pasture and it's still yet to restore itself by even a quarter.

Is this supposed to happen? What factors affect grass growth? I'd hate to have to resort to sending my animals into the caverns.

[PwndJa]

I'd suggest splitting all of your animals into your pastures, and watch them for awhile. If one is going to fast, take some animals out. After you balance it it shouldn't be too much of a problem. But always keep a few spare pastures just in case.

[Korva]

Hmm. This is purely speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if biomes affect the speed of regrowth. I wonder how much "grass trampling" factors into the speed at which grazers strip the land bare, too, or if it does at all.

[Skivverus]

Having embarked on a desert, I suspect this is the case - definitely having to cull the animal population regularly here.

[Mazonas]

Large animals seem to be worse - cows and horses.  My bunnies breed like mad but haven't made a dent in the soil.  Goats and sheep also don't seem to do too much damage, although I have noticed my bees, if nearby, seem to like stinging my sheep.  It does make sense though that some animals like horses would need a large grazing area, whereas smaller ones can make do.  I was surprised that chickens and pigs didn't make more of a mess.

If I were you I would go with goats, sheep and chickens - small animals, fairly speedy reproduction, eggs, milk, meat and wool, and they don't decimate the land quite so much.

Another thing I notices - last site I tried out, I initially let all my animals wander into the meeting area because I needed to wait until I had a space set up for grazing.  The animals crowded the meetig area out and very rapidy it became infested with rats; the rats went away when I started moving my livestock intoi pastures.

[Bouchart]

Can animals "trample" grass like non-elven humanoids?  It might be worthwhile to make a pasture in a place that isn't frequently traveled.

[Kaiser Reinhard]

Decided to set aside animals that would be used for breeding, and the rest that would be slaughtered for meat and stuff. So far, my breeding pasture is surviving pretty well.

Still there should be a way to encourage grass growth, if not buy grass from caravans or grow it yourself

[agatharchides]

I have to ditto the part about big animals. I had 6 goats and a lot of rabbits doing fine. Then a migrant brought a water buffalo and now half of them are starving. Lucky it isn't a pet. 

[Kogut]

Maybe barren land is recovering slower than partially eaten grass?

[Deimos56]

You're having difficulty with your grass being eaten, I'm having difficulty digging a cave without a spontaneous carpet forming. Dense clumps started appearing in summer.

And half of my biome is desert.

...The other half is grassland, though... maybe relevant?

That said, as of fall, the desert half is heavily coated in succulents and the grass has completely coated the dirt portion of my fortress.