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[em1LL]

Hi all!

What animal do you prefer for shearing, milking and butchering and why?

Thanks in advance.

[Loyal]

Sheep and pigs for everything, at least early on. Good price, sheep produce wool (I love me some textile industry), pigs produce meat and milk and don't even need grass. I will also keep dogs for war training and butcher the ones that are weak or wounded beyond usefulness.

And and all other stray animals that come in migrant waves are butchered on arrival.

If I see any Giant carnivorous animals on the map (like Giant Cheetah), I will usually try to capture, tame and breed them for meat/leather/bone craft purposes.

[JRHaggs]

Sheep for wool because they also provide milk, and both males and females have horns.

Pigs for meat because they (oddly) provide milk and you can house them in a stone box, underground, from day one.

And turkeys, turkeys, turkeys.

Until I have a large, stable fort, all other critters get slaughtered for parts immediately.

[em1LL]

Sheep for wool because they also provide milk, and both males and females have horns.

Pigs for meat because they (oddly) provide milk and you can house them in a stone box, underground, from day one.

And turkeys, turkeys, turkeys.

Until I have a large, stable fort, all other critters get slaughtered for parts immediately.

Why turkeys? Are they best animals that provide eggs?

[shifty]

I haven't done much with shearing, but I usually keep it simple by raising pigs and geese. Both animals don't need to graze so they can be raised underground, pigs can be milked, geese lay eggs, and both provide decent meat. I chose geese over turkeys because geese reach full weight faster (1 year vs 2 years with turkeys) and only provide a tiny bit less meat, so much more meat overall.

I'm pretty sure turkeys lay more eggs, though. Both are good choices.

[Urist McShire]

Sheep, pigs, turkeys, and dogs. Wool, horns, milk, cheese, eggs, leather, and war animals. Those are the only animals a fortress truly needs.

[Magistrum]

For a moment I thought you intended on butchering horns from your pigs.

[C27]

I'm partial to alpacas for shearing and milking. I don't eat them,though.

[Argembarger]

Purring maggots for milk, creeping eyes for meat, and wool is for suckers, gotta go with that silk.

[utunnels]

Well I always use alpaca, just my personal preference.

[Urist McShire]

Sometimes I like to mod the raws to make deer domesticated and I use them for meat, milk, cheese, leather, and antlers.

[Uristides]

Alpacas are the best. Because, well, you know, they are fluffy and stuff.

[Urist McShire]

Sheep are fluffy too, and lamb...ohh...lamb just tastes so good.

[Arcvasti]

Pigs are best because they require no food and can be milked. _{Arcvasti is not responsible for any allegorical revolutions caused by my endorsement of pigs as a food source}

[Badger Storm]

For shearing, I've modded yaks, musk oxen (whose fleece is actually considered one of the very softest among animal fibers), mink, Bactrian camels, and chinchillas, because chinchillas are adorable.  I used to knit and weave, and believe me, all of these creatures have had yarn spun from their fur.  I prefer my yaks, because they offer pretty much a complete package this way.

I usually don't go out of my way for milking unless I have a cheese maker on property, so I'll milk the yaks and whatever animals they bring in.  When I'm embarking, I cut out the llama and alpaca milk (never heard of them as dairy animals), and pig's milk, because eww.

Anything big enough to leave more than a skull is fair game for butchering - usually weak or skinny livestock, male birds, excess migrant animals, and the bycatch of my various trapping schemes.