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[cerapa]

I generally turn all immigrants into haulers and the convert them to something else when needed.

[Albedo]

Just turn all your excess dwarves into farmers.

That has no negative side effects whatsoever.

</jk>

Fixed.

So, a question. I can keep a small group of dwarves alive pretty much forever, 3, 4, 5 years...

   Almost literally infinite in duration. 

What in the heck do you people do with these annoying hordes?

One dwarf can run a fortress.  From there, it all depends on what you think is "fun" (in the usual, non-DF sense of the word.)  So your starting 7 can certainly cover everything needed to keep them alive "indefinitely".

Beyond that, it all depends on what you want to do with this machine you've built.  Some like to build armies to crush goblins - that can be as many squads of maybe 6 dwarves as you want.  I like to have archer towers manned at all times beyond my immediate fort - that takes dozens of archers, working in shifts.  And a military needs a solid food and metal-bashing base - there's another dozen or so.  Plus the haulers needed to keep soldiers stockpiled near their stations.

Others like to go for building, so masons are the call.  Some megaprojects could easily use 20 masons full time, and still have designations lying untouched.  And something that scale needs miners and/or glassmakers and/or metalsmiths (and/or soap makers, ahem) for the raw materials.

And if you're doing a vast megaproject on a dangerous map, that's even more military, for body-guard duty for those masons.

And if you're going to do a fortress "right", all of the sub-industries should be covered - the weaving/dying/clothing industry (which means more growing, of non-food plants), and breeding/leather/bonecrafting.  Trapping unusual animals and vermin for a zoo and pets.  Glassmaking if you've got the sand.

Look down the list of skills - surf the wiki without any particular goal in mind.  There are scores of projects and elements to incorporate into a fortress.  Pick one.  Hell, pick three, they're small. 

(edit to fix broken quote)

[Quatch]

17 years and capped at 130 dwarves (no manager on the mac for d#). I still cant get enough spare to make good progress on my megaproject. Orc mod military takes up too many.

Sure, I don't need them. I could keep a fort going with 1 dwarf. My yearly output of tradegoods is ridiculously large, more than I need for trade. Keeping them all alive and happy is its own little challenge.

[lastofthelight]

I've decided to turn them all into wrestlers. I now have half my fort as recruits at any given time, and this has given me the space I need to make the other half more productive. I suspect it will also come in handy in defending against the undead skeleton hoardes I've modded into the game.

I don't use Dwarf Manager though. I'm not sure what the big fuss is with it. I've taken a look at it but...grouping by professions is annoying and dangerous, since many people have multiple professions, some of which are useful and some are not...and the group by name function both has too much and too little info. I'm not really sure, for instance, if when I'm grouped by name and labor, if my military dwarves are in there.

Most of all, the text is really, really small.

[Albedo]

I used Manager, but now I'm using D. Therapist - choose your own font and size, colors, etc.  MUCH more user friendly, with viewing/sorting options not prev available. Not perfect, but >> DM. (D. Companion is apparently still needed for some info.)

[sdu]

If you have enough food production to keep the fort going (say 3x5 plump helmet + potash) then I would just draft most of them into the military or keep them around as haulers.

You dont need to use them based on the skills they come with - who needs 5 jewellers eh?

I dont mind so much when i lose military dwarves bcos they come from the useless immigrant scum and as you know - there's always lots more where they came from.

[nutzy]

I like to set up 20 or so mason's workshops to allow only dabblers and turn on masonry in all peasants and dwarves who don't have moodable skills. That way I can have plenty of blocks and (if economy is on) cheap furniture and fewer moods wasted creating legendary craftsdwarves. Constructions go up faster too with the ample supplies of block. Any dwarves with unwanted skills go into the military or guard.

I've never done it because I disable the economy, but I suppose you could set up a dabbling carpentry workshop to crank out some cheap beds too.

[lastofthelight]

My first real army just had its battle. I fought about 12 human invaders (their liason got killed, no idea how. I think a giant toad or a zombie hawk ate him) - and my champions ripped them to shreds, despite having aquired cave adaption. Oops.