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[Harken]

Hey guys,

So I have three grizzly bears, a male, and two females (see attached image) that I'm trying to get to breed.

Despite assigning Urist McBadCompany to stand outside their room serenading them, they unfortunately don't feel like making love.

After double checking their sexual orientation in dwarf the rapist I noticed that the genders icons for the females were greyed as opposed to pink. Does this signify maybe they are to old or something?

I'd really like to get my war bear industry rolling, so I appreciate any help.

Also, another quick question. I've caught some emu that I'd like to tame. How would I go about that?
I know the animal trainer is supposed to bring them food in their cages but the 'tame small creature' task in the trainer shop self cancels.

[PatrikLundell]

Grey means they are asexual. I've had that trouble with peacocks on embark: one of the turned out to be a dud in each of my two embarks. Also, they can be homo or bi (as indicated by the symbol, in those cases). I don't think bi is a problem for breeding though, as I think animals are promiscous regardless of species.
Sum: your females are good only for war/guard duty or as beef.

[Harken]

 I appreciate it, thanks man. I was guessing it was something like that but wasn't sure.

What about the training of emu question. And suggestions?

[Tacomagic]

If you're not opposed to DFHack, there's a little script in my signature that can be used to make animals fertile again.

[Aslandus]

Emus should be like normal animals (they aren't small creatures, they are basically shorter ostriches), just go to the animal screen (z, select animals, scroll to the emu and press t then select a trainer, they will tame it automatically).

I have a dozen or so emus tamed (well, "trained" to not peck my dwarves to death, not tame until I get them to breed) in my civ, they produce a decent number of eggs but I haven't gotten any babies out of them yet... I assume you bought the bears and cougars off the elves since you don't seem to have animal taming down yet...

[Tacomagic]

Also, I can't remember if it was fixed, but there was a bug that war trained animals were rendered sterile.   This might be related.

[Harken]

Emus should be like normal animals (they aren't small creatures, they are basically shorter ostriches), just go to the animal screen (z, select animals, scroll to the emu and press t then select a trainer, they will tame it automatically).

I have a dozen or so emus tamed (well, "trained" to not peck my dwarves to death, not tame until I get them to breed) in my civ, they produce a decent number of eggs but I haven't gotten any babies out of them yet... I assume you bought the bears and cougars off the elves since you don't seem to have animal taming down yet...

Got it, yeah I haven't trained animals in a few years so I'm rusty on that aspect.

[Illogical_Blox]

Have you SEEN emus?! They are NOT small. That usually applies only to vermin.

[Loci]

Grey means they are asexual.

No, grey just means they aren't going to reproduce. From what I recall, about 20% of the time this reflects an unwillingness to commit to marriage, and about 5% of the time it reflects an alternative sexuality (including asexuality). The bugginess of animals refusing to procreate outside of wedlock has received scant attention thanks to the flame wars on the inclusion of orientation. Simply disabling the marriage commitment check for the majority of animals would greatly reduce breeding difficulties. 

[Harken]

Have you SEEN emus?! They are NOT small. That usually applies only to vermin.

[Quietust]

Have you SEEN emus?! They are NOT small. That usually applies only to vermin.

Emus are only size 35,000, a little bit bigger than a dog (which is itself half the size of a dwarf).

[Aslandus]

Have you SEEN emus?! They are NOT small. That usually applies only to vermin.

Emus are only size 35,000, a little bit bigger than a dog (which is itself half the size of a dwarf).

yeah, which is weird because they are about the size of a person in the real world...

[dwarf_reform]

Tis true, I'm 6'5" in Crazy 'Murrican units and I've been brutally intimidated by ostrich and emu both that were eye-level with me :> Still the flashbacks come..

Also, let us all say thanks to DF for getting us knowledgeable on the topic of grizzly marriage :> Methinks it shouldn't be as complex as it is

[PatrikLundell]

Well, emus are tall, but most of it is legs and neck, so in terms of mass they ought to be on par with a large dog.

[Larix]

DF is a bit weird in its bird descriptions - with the exception of vulture, emu and ostrich, they're all described as "small" or "tiny". Yes, eagles are "small" birds. Even cassowaries (not quite as tall as emu, but significantly heavier) and emperor penguins are considered small birds in DF.

PS: yeah, "tame small animal" tames a captured vermin creature, it's an almost entirely useless job. Proper animals get activated for training through the "animals" sub-screen. You _don't_ need to assign a specific trainer, "any" free animal trainer is perfectly adequate. One problem with wild-creature training is that trainers tend to form bonds with animals they train regularly, which causes a fair bit of unhappiness when the animal dies.