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Domestic animals are creatures that can be used by a civilization one way or another without any training required, usually for security or food. Distinguished by having the [COMMON_DOMESTIC] tag in the raws, they can be bought at embark or traded for with caravans. Wild versions of domesticated animals (horses, turkeys, etc.) can be captured in cage traps and receive training, which will turn them completely tame afterwards.
Dwarf, human and elf civilizations have access to the same variety of domestic animals, which are listed below. Goblins can't use these, but rather have access to domesticated beak dogs, which dwarves can only access by capturing in the wild or as spoils of war. Meanwhile, kobolds and subterranean animal people have no 'domestic' animals at all.
Every embark starts with two free, randomly-selected domestic draft animals which arrive with the wagon at the fortress site. These can be any of the animals in the list below which are available at embark that have the [WAGON_PULLER] tag (i.e. horses, yaks and water buffaloes). Note that the two animals do not (intentionally) come as a "matched pair", and so may not be from the same species. Embarking with a sufficient quantity of goods can result in multiple wagons, each of which comes with another pair of randomly selected animals. Since fortresses cannot move their wagons after embark, these "draft" animals can be slaughtered or kept for breeding, or can become pets for making certain dwarves happy.
When purchasing* draft animals at embark, the player may choose which gender of animals (only one male is necessary for breeding). Depending on the animal, you may wish to limit breeding altogether, or assign a gelder.
- (* Note that the two free draft animals per wagon are not "purchased", and so are randomly generated, both re species and gender.)
Comparison of domestic mammals[edit]
When butchered, all adult domestic mammals yield one skull and one raw hide. All milkable mammals give the same value of milk and appear to be milkable at the same frequency. The embark costs shown apply to both adults and juveniles of either sex. All domestic mammals reach adolescence at 1 year and adulthood at 2 years, except cavies, which take half as long. All grazing animals require a pasture; the lower the 'grazer' value, the larger the size of the required pasture.
| Animal | Embark cost | Pet value | Size when full-grown* | Total edible†‡ | Bones‡ | Horns + hooves | Milkable? | Shearable? | Grazer§ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpaca | 101 | 200 | 70,000 | 35 | 16 | 0 | Yes | Yes | 2614 | |
| Beak dog | 26 | 50 | 150,000 | 35 | 16 | 0 | No | No | Domestic for goblins, also poultry | |
| Cavy | 2 | 3 | 800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No | No | 74768 | |
| Cat | 11 | 20 | 5,000 | 14 | 4 | 0 | No | No | Adopts owners. Hunts vermin. Beware Catsplosion! | |
| Cow | 151 | 300 | 600,000 | 37 | 15 | 6 | Yes | No | 522 | |
| Dog | 16 | 30 | 30,000 | 37 | 11 | 0 | No | No | Trainable as war dogs or hunting dogs, which can also be bought for 31☼ | |
| Donkey | 101 | 200 | 300,000 | 30 | 13 | 4 | Yes | No | 878 | |
| Goat | 26 | 50 | 50,000 | 27 | 10 | 6 | Yes | No | 3364 | |
| Horse | 101 | 200 | 500,000 | 32 | 13 | 4 | Yes | No | 599 | |
| Llama | 101 | 200 | 180,000 | 36 | 18 | 0 | Yes | Yes | 1287 | |
| Mule | 101 | 200 | 400,000 | 34 | 13 | 4 | No | No | 708 | Sterile in real life; all-male in Dwarf Fortress |
| One-humped camel+ | 251 | 500 | 500,000 | 54 | 17 | 0 | Yes | No | 598 | Domestication not guaranteed. |
| Pig | 51 | 100 | 60,000 | 17 | 8 | 4 | Yes | No | Only milkable domestic animal that does not graze | |
| Rabbit | 2 | 3 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No | No | 106,366 | |
| Reindeer | 101 | 200 | 130,000 | 28 | 16 | 6 | Yes | No | 1643 | |
| Sheep | 51 | 100 | 50,000 | 27 | 8 or 10¶ | 4 or 6¶ | Yes | Yes | 3364 | Cheapest shearable domestic animal |
| Two-humped camel+ | 251 | 500 | 500,000 | 44 | 17 | 0 | Yes | No | 598 | Domestication not guaranteed. |
| Water buffalo | 101 | 200 | 1,000,000 | 70 | 20 | 6 | Yes | No | 356 | |
| Yak | 101 | 200 | 700,000 | 42 | 16 | 6 | Yes | No | 465 |
- * Gives a crude estimate of ability in combat, and thus danger to hunters. This number comes from the raws, so it might also be a better estimate of butchering results than the dodgy numbers from this wiki.
- † Total of meat, fat, and offal.
- ‡ Maximum reported in infoboxes in this wiki, April 2011. Strongly influenced by individual attributes, especially for larger animals. Use with caution!
- § A lower number means the animal needs to graze more often, and will thus need a larger pasture. Cats and dogs have the
[CARNIVORE]tag and do not graze or require pasture. - ¶ The higher number is for rams.
- + These animals don't possess the
[COMMON_DOMESTIC]tag, but may be domesticated due to having[PACK_ANIMAL]. Unlike the others, they are not guaranteed to exist in your civilization.
Comparison of domestic poultry[edit]
All domestic poultry have a pet value of 10 and cost 6☼ at embark. Blue peafowl, geese, and guineafowl reach adolescence at six months and are full-grown after one year; ducks, chickens and turkeys reach adolescence at one year and are full-grown after two years. When butchered, all full-grown poultry yield one skull; those that yield bones also yield a raw hide. However, domestic poultry are much more efficient when used for egg production than as a meat source; over the lifetime of an average hen, many more meals can be produced from the eggs. This is especially true for ducks and guineafowl.
| Animal | Min. eggs | Max. eggs | Avg. eggs* | Egg size‖ | Years til full-grown | Max Age | Size when full-grown | Total edible†‡ | Bones‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue peafowl | 6 | 8 | 7 | 102 | 1 | 15-30 | 4000 | 17 | 6 |
| Beak dog | 5 | 10 | 7.5 | 1600 | 2 | 10-20 | 150000 | 35 | 16 |
| Chicken | 4 | 15 | 9.5 | 62 | 1 | 7-15 | 3000 | 13 | 4 |
| Duck | 8 | 13 | 10.5 | 52 | 1 | 7-9 | 1000 | 0 | 0 |
| Goose | 3 | 8 | 5.5 | 152 | 1 | 10-24 | 4500 | 17-18 | 6 |
| Guineafowl | 4 | 15 | 9.5 | 42 | 1 | 10-15 | 1500 | 0§ | 0 |
| Turkey | 10 | 14 | 12 | 87 | 2 | 7-10 | 5000 | 19 | 6 |
- * Estimate based on mean of minimum and maximum clutch sizes.
- † Total of meat, fat, and intestines.
- ‡ Reported in infoboxes in this wiki, April 2011. Might be influenced by individual attributes. Use with caution!
- § A yield of 2 meat, 2 fat, a skin, and a skull has been reported for butchering a guineafowl. This seems to be rare.
- ‖ Egg size does not currently affect food quantity
| Dwarven: | rodnul emär |
|---|---|
| Elven: | wotha fela |
| Goblin: | ongob slulasp |
| Human: | hustra dik |
