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[Chimerat]

So... What are the main effects of animal sexuality in DF? I know the obvious breeding one (homosexual or asexual animals won't produce young), but do females still make milk (which IRL requires them to be pregnant) and eggs (which never actually requires a male IRL) if they're no bi- or heterosexual?

I finally got a chance to play last night (after rebuilding my dead computer) and think that might explain why some of my birds are having a lot harder times hatching young than others... Then again, it might also explain why I'd started a previous run with a male cat and a female and got zero kittens in over a year of time while the dogs produced a few litters.

Related question: due to this new hitch to the animals, is it worth purchasing female birds from traders anymore? And how many males should you bring along to make it as sure as possible that you'll actually have one that will breed with your females?

[locustgate]

So... What are the main effects of animal sexuality in DF? I know the obvious breeding one (homosexual or asexual animals won't produce young), but do females still make milk (which IRL requires them to be pregnant) and eggs (which never actually requires a male IRL) if they're no bi- or heterosexual?

Related question: due to this new hitch to the animals, is it worth purchasing female birds from traders anymore? And how many males should you bring along to make it as sure as possible that you'll actually have one that will breed with your females?

Lactating animals produce milk constantly, in df.
I usually get sterile females, never got a sterile male.

[Grim Portent]

Animals will still be milkable regardless of orientation. Milk production is independent of all other traits, including being female.

It's wise to bring two males and a pair or more of females when choosing livestock now, the risk of a creature being non-breeding is something like 23%, so it helps to have spares.

[Chimerat]

You...You can milk the males!? *laughs her arse off*

Okay. That deals with the livestock (thanks for the swift replies!), but what about the birds?

[Larix]

No, of course you can't milk the males. Must have been an error in observation.

(Although i can't 100% exclude it getting introduced as a bug after the .40.11 i'm still using. But it would probably have shown up on the bug tracker.)

[wuphonsreach]

(Assuming I've done the numbers properly...)

If you bring one male, there's a 25% chance that it will not be a breeder.  If you bring two males, there's only a 6.25% chance of not having a breeder.  With three males, there's a 1.56% chance of not having at least one suitable breeder.  Four of a particular gender lowers the chance to 0.4%.

So if you bring 3 males and 3 females, you have a 3.12% chance of not having at least one breeding pair.  If you have 4+4, a 0.8% chance of not having at least one breeding pair. 

I generally embark with 4+4 of a particular egg-laying bird species to ensure that I have a steady supply of eggs.  Turkeys, geese and blue peafowl are the favorites for production and size of the grown bird.

For expensive animals like pigs, I can only afford to bring 3+3 and I always request that the dwarven caravan bring more each year until I hit my DFHack autobutcher targets of 20 adult females and 8 adult males.

After the embark, you can (if desired) use Dwarf Therapist to figure out which males are non-breeders and butcher them once the kitchen / tannery / butcher workshops are setup.

[Spectre Incarnate]

No, of course you can't milk the males. Must have been an error in observation.

Nah, it was something Grim Portent said.

Milk production is independent of all other traits, including being female.

Not sure what you mean here. Did you mean "aside from being female"?

[Parsely]

Male lactation in animals is a thing IRL.

[IndigoFenix]

No, of course you can't milk the males. Must have been an error in observation.

Nah, it was something Grim Portent said.

Milk production is independent of all other traits, including being female.

Not sure what you mean here. Did you mean "aside from being female"?

He means that as far as the raws are concerned, the tags that allow milk production are independent of gender.

In vanilla DF, of course, only female animals give milk.  However, you can mod the game to allow males to produce milk.  Or any other liquid, for that matter.

[Chimerat]

Okay, I expected only breeding females to produce fertile eggs, but do the rest still produce eggs, or am I best served to kill them for what little meat they give?

[IndigoFenix]

Okay, I expected only breeding females to produce fertile eggs, but do the rest still produce eggs, or am I best served to kill them for what little meat they give?

All female egg-layers will produce eggs, the infertile ones just won't hatch.

[Chimerat]

Okay, I expected only breeding females to produce fertile eggs, but do the rest still produce eggs, or am I best served to kill them for what little meat they give?

All female egg-layers will produce eggs, the infertile ones just won't hatch.

Perfect. Thank you.

[Spectre Incarnate]

Milk production is independent of all other traits, including being female.

Not sure what you mean here. Did you mean "aside from being female"?

He means that as far as the raws are concerned, the tags that allow milk production are independent of gender.

In vanilla DF, of course, only female animals give milk.  However, you can mod the game to allow males to produce milk.  Or any other liquid, for that matter.

That makes quite a bit more sense, if referring to modding. I thought we were talking vanilla. haha

[Bumber]

He means that as far as the raws are concerned, the tags that allow milk production are independent of gender.

In vanilla DF, of course, only female animals give milk.  However, you can mod the game to allow males to produce milk.  Or any other liquid, for that matter.

Purring maggots lack genders, if I'm not mistaken.

[dwarf_reform]

Just wanted to say this is the first time I've ever felt safe clicking a link that says "Animal Sexuality".

Thank you, bay12. Thank you.