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[Hans Lemurson]

If I wanted to set up a domestic leather industry, what would be the best animal to breed to create as many hides as possible?  I know I can buy crate-fulls of the stuff for dirt cheap from merchants, but it seems a little cheap given how hard it is to domestically produce leather.

I also want to have leather of just one species so as to simplify my stocks menu.

Dogs could be one source, but I dislike the idea of using my guard animals for their hides.  Pigs, for some reason, don't need to graze, so I suppose it could be easy to build up a large population of them, but the lack of grazing bothers me.

Of the grazing animals, which ones would eat the least grass while still producing leather.  Cavys and rabbits I understand don't produce hides.  My thinking is that the best animal to go for would be the "Jack of all trades" livestock of Sheep.

Does anybody else have experience with a large-scale domestic leather industry?

[Laurin]

Pig and turkeys are quite usable. There is a problem though with a massive leather industry -  you will get huge amounts of meat and other stuff. Considering the enormous effectivity of farming you will need many kitchens and cooks to get rid of all the stuff.

If you really want very many hides from your own animals it would be wise to choose the smallest possible animals that still yield hides but not too much food.

[SauliusTheBlack]

or you take sheep, a lot of food, a lot of really good cooks, ginormous amounts of prepared meals, and *profit*

[Telgin]

I'd say pigs.  I'm not sure how effective turkeys would be.  Do you always get a hide when butchering something?  I recall butchering some turkeys soon after they grew up and got nothing but a skull.  That leads me to believe that turkeys might not be big enough for this to be practical.  They do lay enough eggs for you to be drowning in them in short order however.

If you want a grazer, I'd maybe pick alpacas or sheep.  You can shear them, milk them, and butcher them.

[XXSockXX]

I usually go with pigs and sheep. Pigs don't need food, so you can stuff them into cages except for a breeding pair. Sheep produce wool but don't graze as much as other animals, so you can use smaller pastures.

[purpl monstr]

I would go with sheep or goats. A breeding program to make your animals small and skinny would help minimize excess meat production.