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[Aquillion]

1. One of the migrants who came to my fortress had a pair of pet cows.  Is there any way to milk them, or are pets just exempt?  I couldn't figure anything out.

2. I've caught some rats, a butterfly, a giant roach, and a firefly in traps and trained them.  Is there any way to let them out of their cages now?  Is there any reason why I'd want to let them out of their cages now?

And, actually, a third question.  Is there any more precise way to choose what my trappers go for?  I was trying to get them to trap some spiders so I could start an organized silk business, but they don't seem interested.

[polpoint]

in the farming(workshop) there is an option to milk an animal or make cheese

I dont know about the rest

[Toady One]

The animal interfaces are deficient.  Trappers just kinda wander around according to their whim.  Cows can't be milked, since the intended target for that job original was a small vermin type creature.  Proper livestock is one of the reqs, which we were going to do when we add village sprawl into the squares outside the map when the count comes.  Cows didn't used to be dwarven pets actually...  that was a recent result of some tweaking, so milking of large units might go in sooner.  In the meantime, assuming you get some mixed gender populations going, you'll have a nice butcherable meat supply over the years as they pop them out.

You should be able to put your small pets up for adoption in the [z - animals] screen.  If anybody selects them (based on their prefs), they'll come and claim their pet and carry it around.

[karnot]

quote: Cows can't be milked, since the intended target for that job original was a small vermin type creature.

Rat milk ? Ugh !

[Toady One]

Even worse, perhaps.

[BeefontheBone]

We ran out of cows' milk weeks ago.
So what've I been drinking?
Dogs' milk. Lasts longer than any other kind of milk.
Why's that?
No bugger'll drink it.

[Aquillion]

So, we can milk rats?  How do we milk rats?  I have some tame rats in cages in my animal stockpile, but I can't seem to milk them...

[Dehydration]

quote:
You should be able to put your small pets up for adoption in the [z - animals] screen.  If anybody selects them (based on their prefs), they'll come and claim their pet and carry it around.

Is there a point to non-dog/cat animals being kept as pets, since pets can't be butchered? I've just been shoving the calves into cages a few seconds after they're born and leaving them there until I've got a large enough population to start slaughtering the older ones.

Just call me Foster Farms.

[Aristharus]

A pet they like helps their mood. And after you get some nobles and the economy starts, adopting pets costs money. Other than that, I don't know.

[Toady One]

I never said anything about milking rats.  Only one small vermin can be milked -- livestock is not done, at all.

Pets are very good for moods though, since they can constantly comfort the dwarf.  It is kind of dangerous though, since the death of the pet is hard on a dwarf.  Not as bad as tails though.  The part doesn't do anything right now, it's just a spigot for blood to pour out of when it's removed.

[UncleSporky]

Roach milk?

[Toady One]

Unless you CHEAT, like a LOSER, and look at the raw/object creatures file, you'll have to discover the mystery of "dwarven milk" on your own.

[bbb]

... i wonder what dwarven cheese is made of

[JT]

Dwarves.

Was this a trick question?

[Aquillion]

...hey.  Apparently we can 'extract' milk from cows (dead ones, I assume), but cannot milk them.  Bizarre.