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[Devstorm]

I used to raise chickens, but switched to turkeys because when at full weight there's some fat to turn into tallow after butchering. Pigs, for meat and milk (though I usually just trade for cheese and skip the whole milking thing).  Haven't done much for sheering, though I did ask for sheep the next time the dwarf merchants come for trade.

All migrant animals are pastured until they are grown, then promptly butchered (unless pets). Rodent-y strays are butchered immediately, such as cavies, rabbits, etc. Those suckers can breed!

[Wooster]

Another vote for sheep: they take up less space than alpacas or llamas. Since the main attraction for keeping sheep is the revenue (milk and wool) rather than the capital (meat, leather and bones) I'm not worried that they produce less on slaughter than the alternatives. A side-benefit of keeping sheep is that I don't need to bother with plant-based fibres, so plots previous used for pig tails can be converted over to dimple cups.

As regards other animals, I'm currently playing with pigs rather than turkeys as I find managing eggs a pain. I want a way to ensure that my dwarves use less than all the eggs in cooking, so that I can keep a turn-over of turkeys going through the system for meat, leather and fat.

I had great fun in one game capturing, taming and breeding ostriches instead of using turkeys. Sadly, the game's food engine doesn't pay attention to the fact that ostrich eggs are enormous, and so coupling that reason to the current difficulty of managing an egg industry, I decided to breed them for slaughter: you get a nice haul of meat and bones, as well as gizzard stones for decorations. (Apparently, my next target for this should be jabberers: huge, war-trainable and a great source of !!FUN!! if the task is not undertaken with care.)

[em1LL]

Why don't you use llamas? The can give a bit more meat than alpaca (12-13 meat instead of 12, according to the wiki) while also give milk and wool. And they are live longer.

[Magnumcannon]

Dogs are good for butchering, at least in my fortress, they breed fast as hell! And they don't really take long to grow up. I once had ordered the slaughter of a puppy, but when finally my butcher decided to do it, he was a grow-up dog. I don't know if it is because my butcher is lazy or because the dogs can grow up very fast. Meh, we're eating dog roast today.

As for shearing and milking, llamas are pretty decent for it.

[Uristides]

Why don't you use llamas? The can give a bit more meat than alpaca (12-13 meat instead of 12, according to the wiki) while also give milk and wool. And they are live longer.

Not as cute as alpacas, not a fan of the banana-shaped ears either. Still use them when they are available.

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.

Those mods sounds neat. Love myself some chinchillas and yaks too.

[§k]

I keep any animal coming with migrants, as well as the wagon pullers.

Grazers are pastured in cavern for the first year, large critters on the exterior, less durable ones like sheep, goats and rodents near the entrance. When I have safe place for them, some still survive, although they may have lost one hoof or got many scars...

I'm in the 7th year now. There are waterbuffalo, horses, rabbits, cavies, donkeys, and sheep. The farmers workshop can keep milking and shearing on repeat without interruption.

And I almost do not butcher, because a)every trivial animal you butvhered will be listed on the dead/missing list until the end of world. It will get messy. b)naked mole dog and crundle always march into fort in packs. They are fleshy and easy to deal with.

Excess animals are sold to elves, while injured ones are pastured in relatively safe place. Pigs are always sold away because hygiene is important underground, and reindeer are offered to elves.

[Spehss _]

I typically just use whatever animals happen to come to my fort in migrant waves to start a shearing industry. The one time I got a good sized shearing industry, I wound up using alpacas. Seemed dorfy.

[Baffler]

Llamas all the way. Alpacas are cheaper to embark with, but the pasture size they require is slightly smaller. They can both be milked, sheared, and butchered for greater returns than the smaller sheep even if you don't wait the whole two years needed for them to reach their maximum size, making them excellent all around livestock.

[Ancalagon_TB]

One day, Toady will grant us with the dorfiest of all animals - the sheepig!

http://cdn.foodbeast.com.s3.amazonaws.com/content/uploads/2014/01/sheep-pig.jpg 

[Goblins]

Wow!  I've gained some valuable information from this thread.  From what I have seen and researched, pigs and turkeys seem like a great idea.  Though, I do enjoy shearing and butchering migrants.

Whatever you prefer!

[Sadrice]

One day, Toady will grant us with the dorfiest of all animals - the sheepig!

http://cdn.foodbeast.com.s3.amazonaws.com/content/uploads/2014/01/sheep-pig.jpg 

That's a Mangalitsa a Hungarian breed of fluffy pig that is supposed to be spectacularly delicious.  I've been meaning to mod them into Dwarf Fortress for years now.  Maybe I'll finally get around to it.  It ought to be ridiculously simple.

As for poultry, I prefer geese over turkeys, because egg production is already so excessive that turkeys are unnecessary, and the 2 year maturation is a pain.  Pigs are pretty awesome, and I always have some.  I also always keep dogs.  They're basically free, and eternally useful for all sorts of purposes, including supplemental meat supply.  Every so often, when there are enough new dogs to merit it, I go around and slaughter up to 1/3 of them selectively, based on stats.  I know war animals are kinda useless at the moment, but I just like the idea of breeding a better goblin bait

For grazers i usually do reindeer, yaks, goats, or water buffalo for meat and milk (because they are just awesome animals, not for efficiency reasons), and alpacas for wool.  But I usually don't bother with grazers much, aside from a few stray reindeer and yaks.

My favorite animals, however, are whatever you can capture.  Many wild animals, above ground and below, make excellent livestock.  Ostriches have been mentioned already.  Cave Crocodiles are amazing.  One of the best egglayers out there, with clutches of 20-60.  Matures in 3 years, but it's worth it, with a 4x value multiplier and large size (same as cows).  Most wild animals are worth raising, and are frequently entertaining.  I am just dreaming of the day when my dwarves can ride giant olms into battle.

[Magistrum]

Though, I do enjoy shearing and butchering migrants.

That sounds very proper to a goblin.

[Magnumcannon]

Though, I do enjoy shearing and butchering migrants.

That sounds very proper to a goblin.

Or an elf.

[Niddhoger]

I refuse to raise pigs and any other non-grazing animal because they require no energy input.  Grazing animals eat grass and everything else just sort of absorbs nutrients out of the air.  Hey, bacon needs food of its own to grow!  Sheep don't actually take much space to raise (I think 4x4 is plenty for each).  Underground grazing is no problem either, just pierce the caverns asap and wall it off.  Then dig out a huge "pasture" in the last soil layer (just over the stone).  Then I just start placing farmer's workshops in the pasture/right at the start of it for milking/shearing. 

Alpaca and llama's provide more food, but sheep take less space.  The milk and textiles are the same though, and I'm only keeping them for the additional textiles.  The horns from both male/female are a nice touch as well.  As far as food goes, that is easy enough to get late game with legendary farmers and trap lines.  You can begin cooking seeds too after a certain threshold.  All seeds over 200 for each plant (or w/e the global cap is for each fort) are wasted anyway- just forbid a couple bags of each so you never run out.  Especially now with multi-hauling you can set up profitable (in terms of yield) underground herb gardens.  You can also supplement your farms/traps/gathering with whatever the caravan's bring. 

I know farming itself is pretty borked, but even as it is farming feels less exploity than bacon that just wills itself into existence.  You can be several generations of pigs into your fort, and not a damn one of them has ever eaten a single unit of food! They just spontaneously generate layers of fat, meat, and produce milk while subsisting on rock dust.  It just takes way too much out of hte game for me on that. 

[Donagh]

At the moment I have a healthy population of yaks, water buffalo and horses in pens at the bottom soil layer. There is only one male in each herd and a handful of females. I prize my self on my stallion who is gigantic overall with incredible muscles, the yak and water buffalo bulls are pretty impressive specimens as well. They provide that textile industry and milk but they are allot of work. I have had rabbits breeding since embark and seven years in I have just decided to thin their numbers along with the excess cats. The purple messages will never end. I have a few grizzly bears trained for war and some how a she wolf managed to melt my heart, escape butchery and have cubs that are now adorable pets. All babies go to the baby pen to be butchered when fully grown or sent to the herd pens.

I have to get me some pigs! Compound pig farming will be the thing