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[Terratoch]

I've got a meeting zone for migrants to come in so they don't just idle around outside and die to goblin ambushes and the wilderness and whatnot.

Only problem is, the animals that I have that aren't owned idle around in it, too, which wouldn't be a problem, except they don't leave.
Ever.
And now they're starving to death.
Does an animal need an owner to be kept fed while inside/underground/etc, or is this a bug that we are aware of?

[twilightdusk]

Most large animals need to eat grass that grows on the ground. Find some outdoor area (or an indoor area with underground plants growing), designate it as a pasture using i zones, and assign all your animals to it.

[Sphalerite]

This isn't a bug, it's intended behavior.  Grazing animals need to eat.  To eat, it needs to be assigned to a pasture zone with grass or cave moss.  Dwarves who own animals will sometimes feed those animals when they are hungry, but this isn't very reliable.

[EmperorJon]

Yes, only pets are fed (If they are. I'm not sure). The game presumes the others will be put in pastures. Which they should be! I've never quite understood why the game makes unintelligent animals hang around the meeting area...

[acetech09]

You have to pasture them in a pasture zone. i for zones, designate one, n for pasture, N to open menu, and select the areas to pasture them.

EDIT: wow ninja 3x

[Terratoch]

Pastures are new to me.

Thanks for the information.

Now EAT THE GRASS YOU STUPID WATER BUFFALOES -.-;

[krenshala]

For Water Buffalo, Yaks, and other similarly large beasties, I highly recommend you minimize how many are in each pasture zone you create. They still seem to stack up and denude an area without spreading out to graze more efficiently, so by splitting them up the grass has a chance to grow back.

Oh, and you pasture more than grazers.  I forget who's post I saw, but pasturing my dogs at the entrance instead of chaining them up really works well.

[Sphalerite]

Water Buffaloes are barely possible to keep alive.  You'll need a very large pasture for each one of them, and possibly move them to new pastures periodically.  I wouldn't bother.  Slaughter them and get some sheep instead.

[ASCIt]

I usually mass slaughter all strays, regardless of species. Except birds. Birds are pet animals.

[wierd]

Grazers are more trouble than they are worth.

If you want wool, stick with long haired carnivores, or just import the raw wool thread.

For meat, nothing beats poultry. They only hatchsplode when you permit them to, can reproduce like crazy, and provide meat and leather just fine.  No need for 6 zlevels of artificial pasture just to keep them alive with continual pasture rotation.

[ASCIt]

Get a female Roc, you'll be able to feed your entire fort on eggs alone.

[Sphalerite]

Get a female Roc, you'll be able to feed your entire fort on eggs alone.

Wow, your entire fortress can be fed by six meals a year?  A Roc egg is only one meal, and they only produce one or two at a time.

[Noodz]

Another problem with large grazers and pastures is their tendency to crowd, which will lead to fights. Large hoofed animals are amazingly good at smashing brains, which means it is advisable to leave a single animal per pasture.

But its not necessary to rotate pastures. The wiki article on pastures contains the minimal self-sufficient pasture size as a function of the pastured animal. Water buffalos are among the worst, demanding a 18x18 pasture. For this reason my favorite grazers are goats (cheap and milkable) and sheep (milkable and shearable).

[MarcAFK]

I like goats because they don't clutter my butchers

[krenshala]

I've been attempting to get breeding pairs of either llamas or alpacas (or both).   From what I've seen they are about the same as goats, and at least one (both, i think) can be sheared as well as milked.