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[Pwnage_Incarnate]

I have two muskoxen(sp?) wandering around in my fortress, and the cage traps I set aren't working.  I built the trap, but when the muskox walks across it, nothing happens.
Help please?

[Dumatoin]

Are they tame?

If so, you need to build a cage and assign them to it.(build in the carpenters shop, cage not animal trap)

if they are wild. no idea.

[Pwnage_Incarnate]

Yep, that was it.  Now how do I get them to mate so I can eat their children?

[erendor]

quote:Originally posted by PwnageIncarnate:
<STRONG>Yep, that was it.  Now how do I get them to mate so I can eat their children?</STRONG>

As long as they are different genders, they will do it by mental pollination at any distance.

(You just wait and out pop the babies.  They don't even need to be near each other ever.)

[Dumatoin]

And if you want alot of meat, don't eat their babies right away.
Let them mate as well.
Course, farming is a much better way to feed your dwarves.
Though since now you can outhunt the map, you can use livestock to keep your bonecarvers happy.

[ShunterAlhena]

Wait for the population to attain a sizable size. What I have thought out (but not yet done) is the following:
1. build small room
2. build wooden cage in room, assign every musk ox into it
3. attach lever to cage
4. wait for dwarves to pull out of the room; lock down room; pull lever
5. the muskoxen will be inside their breeding chamber, at one place, so they won't roam around the fortress (how stupid does a Muskox look in the BARRACKS??)
6. when you want to thin their numbers just make a few of them ready for slaughter and unlock the door

I think this is the basic principle of today's chicken factories.

And remember, population growth is exponential, if you have 16 musk oxen you can slaughter eight times as much of them each year than if you only have 2 of 'em. But you'd need a really astronomical number to keep a fortress well-fed, alas. Long live artifacts carved from rotten goblin bones!

[ January 07, 2008: Message edited by: ShunterAlhena ]

[Anjey aka PM]

quote:Originally posted by Dumatoin:
<STRONG>Though since now you can outhunt the map, you can use livestock to keep your bonecarvers happy.</STRONG>

Goblins are the best way to keep 'em happy  

[Shadowlord]

Who cleans up all their poop? Who feeds them? Who gives them water? Oh, right, they don't poop, eat, or drink.

[Anjey aka PM]

quote:Originally posted by Shadowlord:
<STRONG>Who cleans up all their poop? Who feeds them? Who gives them water? Oh, right, they don't poop, eat, or drink.</STRONG>

they eat their poop and drink ... well you know what they drink  

[Thallone]

One other alternative to cages and special rooms... designalte a meeting area. Your animals will mystically congregate there. You'll still need to cage them if you want to completely eliminate their effect on framerate, but at least they're wasy to catch.

[beorn080]

One thing to do is slaughter all but 1 or 2 of the male musk ox. You only need one male critter of any species to repopulate and I think at least in the 2d version there was a limit on breeding.  So by slaughtering the male ox you free up slots for the females to breed into and provide food at the same time. And remember to always spay or neuter your cats.

[ShunterAlhena]

How can I spay'em? I fear a cat population boom and most of them are already pets, so I can't even slaughter them without serious security issues. I hate the bastards, have no idea how they got here.

[Dame de la Licorne]

quote:Originally posted by ShunterAlhena:
<STRONG>How can I spay'em? I fear a cat population boom and most of them are already pets, so I can't even slaughter them without serious security issues. I hate the bastards, have no idea how they got here.</STRONG>

I slaughter all the female kittens, and just leave the males to become pets and act as vermin hunters.  It does keep the cat population manageable.

[ofudd]

I've been working with breeding... elephants are the best (17 meat/fat/etc), but was just saving one male.  anybody confirm that's enough?  are there some animals that are monogamous vs harem breeders?  ie what proportion of males/females should I save to get max offspring, and does it change with different animals (dont think it does since no animal tags related to this)

[pushy]

quote:Originally posted by ofudd:
<STRONG>I've been working with breeding... elephants are the best (17 meat/fat/etc), but was just saving one male.  anybody confirm that's enough?  are there some animals that are monogamous vs harem breeders?  ie what proportion of males/females should I save to get max offspring, and does it change with different animals (dont think it does since no animal tags related to this)</STRONG>

1 male (maybe a second in case the first dies for whatever reason) and as many females as you like is perfectly fine in my experience  

However, while you say "elephants are the best", that's not the case. Yes, they give you more meat, fat and bones than any other animal, but that's not the full story. You see, if you're breeding elephants and you've got 1 male and 2 females, you're stuck with just those two females capable of giving birth to calves for ten years, until some of their calves grow into adults. Horses and cattle, on the other hand, both give 9 meat but the foals/calves only take 1 year to mature into breeding-capable females (which obviously allows for more infants to be born for slaughter). Even if you're only killing off the males, horses/cattle will definitely be better providers for carnivorous dwarves...hell, even dogs and cats are better than elephants in that respect. Really, don't bother - tame your elephants and use them as guards or something instead of using them for breeding.