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[Bodkin]

Am I crazy? I am in a haunted region, and I brought a horse with me. Just one. And she just gave birth.

Now, I know the beasts in this game reproduce by spores, and all it takes is for a male horse to appear anywhere on the map, and she's knocked up. But here's the problem: the only horses I've noticed in this region have been skeletal 

Is this possible?

(It's still early in the game, and no trade caravans have come through yet, so I know it isn't that.)

[Karik]

Is now a bad time to make a 'boned' joke?

[Bodkin]

Is now a bad time to make a 'boned' joke?

I have never yet lived through a time when I did not want to hear such a joke, and I hope I never do.

[Retro]

I am in a haunted region, and I brought a horse with me. Just one. And she just gave birth. But here's the problem: the only horses I've noticed in this region have been skeletal.

Is now a bad time to make a 'boned' joke?

Hehehehe.

But on topic, I wasn't aware skeletal creatures could breed. Maybe it depends on the female's life/undeath status alone then? DF animal husbandry isn't my strong suit, though.

[Shade-o]

Are you certain there has not been any other horses at all? You did not bring another one as part of your original wagon pulling team, or there was not a migrant who brought one as a pet, or a caravan did not include a horse, or a herd migrated in and out?

Then again, this seems like the sort of bug that would go through.

[kalida99]

Do you have a donkey or mule?

[RandomNumberGenerator]

Animals can arrive pregnant.

[Nome]

Animals can arrive pregnant.

What he said.

[happydog23]

I guess we'll know for sure if she has another child... I guess unless the horse foal is male... then thats a whole other set of genetic issues besides having a skeleton for a father.

[jayseesee]

Caravan.  Your horses got "wild" when a caravan came.

[RyanW]

Do you have a donkey or mule?

Wouldn't work. DF considers donkeys, mules, and horses three different creatures. A horse-donkey hybrid is no more possible than a giant cave spider-carp hybrid (oh the horror!).

[Earth Striker Lurin]

(It's still early in the game, and no trade caravans have come through yet, so I know it isn't that.)

He did say this, a few of you must have missed this.  No caravan yet means no migrants.

[Adamantine Fist]

Unless there is an invisible stallion wandering around the map knocking up your horse, I think it looks like even skeletal dudes can still get it on with the ladies.

[Aspgren]

The real questions are these.

When did the horse give birth? and for how long does the pregnancy last?

Logically. If a horse carries her children for X months and she gave birth in less - then she spawned pregnant. That's the only solution. Those who have had fertile forts might have noticed that dwarves go a minimum of 9 months between giving births. This is the approximate length of a human pregnancy... coincidence? I think not.

A horse in real life is pregnant for 11 months before giving birth. The caravan (which hadn't arrived) typically comes in early autumn. Which is the 10th month on the dwarven calendar.

If we assume (and you shouldn't assume lightly) that Toady has coded them to be pregnant for a a realistic period of time then the horse HAS to have been pregnant when she arrived. I'd check the wiki for any kind of verification but I can't access it. is it down or is it only my computer?

Anyway I'm going with the idea that she was boned before she arrived.

[happydog23]

There is another thread going on about having a similar problem with cats... Except he had the only cat on the map and it gave birth 5 years later (no migrant cats either).


He opened dwarf companion and checked the full unit list...  There were two cats... their position was off the map tho... 0,0,0 and something large.    So they're "bugged", but not sure how they got there or why