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[NotaPirate]

I think this question has been raised a few times, but I haven't been able to get a satisfactory answer so i want to ask...

I've got a few captured mounts from goblin sieges. Now, I hate goblins and I absolutely want to rip them apart with their own war animals, even as I'm devising a trap of fire breathing creatures to roast them to ashes.

For some reason, an enemy giant war mongoose and badger gave birth in their cages, and I was apparently able to tame the pups in one go. No problems there. No hostilities, I got about 40 giant badgers and counting. Heck, I even managed to get a group of Tigermen going. Don't ask how, I don't know either.

Now, I'm pretty sure I heard animals can't be impregnated while in cages, but I'll chalk it up to good luck that they were impregnated before hand. Either way I'm not complaining.

But this time I want to try to get captured mounts to breed. I got some giant dingos and porcupines and I really want to create an apocalypse based on multiple furious giant animals.

So the question is...how do I get to that? Chaining them would be the obvious answer, but as far as I know, taming enemy mounts do not remove their hostilities, and I don't know if the same applies to their young. Do they continue to be hostile? Will they be ripped to shreds by their own mother? How can I force a working breeding program?

[Button]

Chain up all of the non-egg-laying female enemy animals, and the "best" male. Chained animals can be impregnated, and are neutral unless attacked. Babies born will be Wild Animals, so set up some cage traps at the entrance to the chaining room or in a ring around each chain. (Chained animals will still trigger traps, so not immediately next to the chain - go one further.)

Enemy egglayers won't claim nest boxes, so if you've got Jabberers for instance you're SOL on that front.

Note also that while building destroyers won't target chains, tantrumming dwarves will.

[Snaake]

...
Enemy egglayers won't claim nest boxes, so if you've got Jabberers for instance you're SOL on that front.

Which means they'll just have to be captured wild in the caverns. Or at least a female one, you can use an enemy male jabberer for his spores.

Note also that while building destroyers won't target chains, tantrumming dwarves will.

After which said tantruming dwarf will very possibly be the first one to get mauled by the hostile he just set loose. Fun times for all.

As for the OP, I doubt the mothers will rip apart their own wild offspring. After you've tamed the offspring, then probably.

[Shadow Creator]

If the mothers were the enemy mounts to begin with then they probably will kill their babies. Whenever I have had a long term siege, last time were flying bat mounts content with chilling in the sky above a mountain which I could not be bothered with getting to, the mounts will give birth and immediately attack the children.

Those have been my experiences with enemy mounts giving birth.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Chained creatures won't normally attack anything, unless they are attacked first. So the question is, would the wild babies attack their mother as soon as they are born, turn the mother hostile, and then all get murdered by their angry mother?

Man... that's dark.

[Button]

Chained creatures won't normally attack anything, unless they are attacked first. So the question is, would the wild babies attack their mother as soon as they are born, turn the mother hostile, and then all get murdered by their angry mother?

Man... that's dark.

It's pretty unlikely though, except maybe in the case of the badgers (but OP has tame giant badgers already). IIRC even [LARGEPREDATOR]s won't attack things bigger than them without provocation.

[hiroshi42]

Chained creatures won't normally attack anything, unless they are attacked first. So the question is, would the wild babies attack their mother as soon as they are born, turn the mother hostile, and then all get murdered by their angry mother?

Man... that's dark.

I think that you only get one or two blows from either mother or child before the child's natural 'run away' function kicks in (at least that has been my experience).  Of course this being dwarf fortress that one blow would be a headshot that knocks the head off and into another critter killing all involved.

[NotaPirate]

Alright, let's try restraining a male and female in seperate rooms, with cage traps around said restraint. I don't know if the female will give birth at all, but I'll post results when it does.

[nightwhips]

I tried chaining up trained captured giant toads near my ponds in hopes of breeding. My recruits killed them, despite their training.

[NotaPirate]

Alright, I'm back with results.

In a demonstration of not-so-dwarven !!!SCIENCE!!!, I have put the set up as follows:



Females are the ones with cage traps.

As it turned out, the female giant porcupine pooped out two young cubs, at the same training level as it was. No infighting had occurred between the mother and cubs before I dragged said pups into a pasture, since friendly animals don't set off fortress traps. These pups seem to be non hostile and are happily waiting to grow up before they explode into a massive number of giant balls of spikes.



Another thing to note is that animals can't be trained while chained. At least, these four anyway. They'd repeatedly move and squirm, causing my animal trainers to repeatedly cancel their jobs telling me the smug thing beside him doesn't exist. This means that, unless I cage them back, they're going to revert to not trained status, and that'll be when I need those cage traps.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

I'm almost positive that you can train animals in chains. Is the whole 3x3 area around the chain designated as a training zone?

[NotaPirate]

Nope. I thought training zones are only used for war/hunting training. I'll try it when i get back.