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[LuckyLuigi]

So currently I have no undead but I want some ! 

What are the best weapons to use ? I'm thinking edged is bad because cut of bits will reanimate...discuss

[slothen]

i would try embarking near a tower or on a cursed evil biome.

[SRD]

Whips destroy the undead without cutting them to pieces (iirc with my last adventurer)

[Telgin]

Edged weapons will sometimes sever limbs which may then join the fight.  Blunt weapons though have a hard time destroying zombies from what I've read.  So it's a choice: do you want to potentially create more foes or risk losing a dwarf because he gets tired and passes out after beating on a zombie for two months?

And of course, fair warning: if there is a necromancer around or you're in a cursed biome that raises the dead the zombies don't stay dead.  Have a contingency plan of some sort, such as a hole to dump the bodies in or an atom smasher to destroy the bodies.  Or seal them away behind fortifications and have infinite marksdwarve live target practice.

[SRD]

Blunt weapons are alright against zombies now, instead of 2010 when strangling was a better choice.

[LuckyLuigi]

Will magma kill zombies ?

[NecroRebel]

Will magma kill zombies ?

No. It will set them on fire, causing them to become slightly more dangerous by allowing them to set other things on fire. It will, however, generally stop them from returning once they are killed, as the corpse will burn up.

It's much-debated whether slashing or blunt weapons are better against undead. A solid enough blow from any weapon kills them. The question is generally whether it's worse to have a single big zombie multiple times with no significant reduction in its threat level each time until the corpse can finally be dealt with permanently, or whether it's worse to have bits chopped off the big zombie that reduce its threat level for future animations but producing tiny hand- or head-zombies. This is unclear; some people say that the tiny hands distract from the main body, thus making the main body more dangerous than if it was whole but alone, while others say that the tiny zombies don't do anything significant and thus aren't important enough to warrant not chopping bits off the main body.

[Ancalagon]

Also, be prepared early. Set up your defenses, get your burrows assigned, double check that you don't have dead things in tucked away parts of your fortress, ext.

Just lost my last one due to the last bit. I had dead things coming from my mines. I could only stare in horror as they made their way through my lower warehouses...my foundry...my craftshops...then the tombs...bedrooms. One kitten did manage to bite the eyeball out of one particular fellow, however the swarm was too great.

Oh, one last thing. CONNECT THE BRIDGE TO A LEVER!

[adasdad]

the great urist defense strategy; ATOMSMASHERS. ATOMSMASHERS EBERYWER.

[franti]

Go with Short Swords. All around decent weapon. The severing isn't an issue, imop, a Zombie Hand can't do jack shit.

[Geen]

Cage traps. Nothing beats them. And it doesn't allow for reanimation, as it's still "alive."

[LuckyLuigi]

Thanks for all the replies.

Last night I was musing about animals. If  I butcher an animal in a 'reanimation zone' is it possible that the dead animal parts will reanimate and kill the butcher ? Or the raw hide the tanner ? Or all the other bits my crafters ?

[Loud Whispers]

the dead animal parts will reanimate and kill the butcher

Yes.

Also, I find embarking with hammers are a nice method of zombie protection. Copper warhammers are one of the most effective weapons in the game, and they're copper cheap.
Spears are a definite no, at least in the early stages of a fort - Dwarf AI tells them to stab, lodge in a corpse wound and twist before pulling out, leaving them vulnerable to getting knocked over and mobbed. Knowing that, a Spearlord with a candy spear is surprisingly one of the most effective ways of dealing with large undead.
Battleaxes, if you can get them, get them. Unless you rely heavily on traps and don't want your traps clogged, go for these.
If you're going to be stuck with zombies forever, you might as well reduce their effectiveness.
Example:
1 goblin zombie - a threat, scratches from these can break bones and cause heavy bleeding, not to mention rip/tear ignores armour.
+ Axelord
=
2 hands with no fingers, and a head with no features. All they can do is push. Easy to kill a second time around, and you can safely (well, more safely) have your civilians haul them to your burial/burning pit.

Above all though, I'd recommend you invest in some marksdwarves. Hordes of undead fliers will be the undoing of melee squads, and the happiness drop from being attacked by the undead is devastating. Marksdwarves neutralize these problems.

[Telgin]

Go with Short Swords. All around decent weapon. The severing isn't an issue, imop, a Zombie Hand can't do jack shit.

Of course, this being Dwarf Fortress a zombie hand can still get a lucky shot and shatter a skull, no matter how nonsensical it is to picture such a thing. 

I know I've read of someone who had that happen.  The risk is still pretty low I suppose.  That and you might get some martial trances if a dwarf goes on a particularly spectacular severing spree.

By the way, bisection / decapitation is supposedly the only way to kill some creatures such as mummies and sponge men.  Does that instantly kill zombies too?  I'm guessing it either doesn't, or it doesn't matter because the animated body parts stand back up anyway?

[SRD]

Wtf... "The zombie giant sponge pushes the (insert dwarf here) jamming the skull and piercing the brain" x7

Well that fort last a whole of 2 minutes.