In Minecraft you can find all kinds of animals and bring them home. Once you do, you can breed them to expand your farm. This mechanic has received many updates over the years. While you used to need wheat for almost everything, breeding is now much more varied. Each species requires the right food or item to breed. And with the first drop of 2026 on the horizon and the visual refresh for babies, it’s a great time to look at every mob and how to breed them. You’ll also need them all for an achievement.
Breed Minecraft farm animals: Gather resources efficiently
A farm isn’t complete without animals. You should definitely capture these species and use them for their resources. Of course, you can breed them so you only need to find two of each to start. These mobs are essential for any playthrough.
- Cows: Breed with wheat. Needed for leather, raw beef/steak, and milk.
- Goats: Also breedable with wheat. Provide milk and occasionally goat horns when they ram solid blocks.
- Sheep: Eat wheat. Besides mutton, they’re key for wool. Wool color is mixed or inherited from a parent. For example, red and yellow make orange.
- Pigs: Breed with carrots, potatoes, or beetroots. Drop pork.
- Chickens: Use any kind of seeds. Important for feathers and chicken.
- Bees: Breed with flowers and produce honey and honeycombs.
Tame and breed pets in Minecraft: Cats, wolves, axolotls
Pets make the game more fun and are faithful companions. Many players love cats or wolves, but rabbits and axolotls are popular too.
- Wolves: First tame with bones, then breed with raw or cooked meat. Rotten flesh also works. They come in many colors with individual personalities, some of which can pass to puppies.
- Cats: Tame with raw salmon or raw cod, then breed with raw fish. Cats can bring you gifts and randomly inherit a parent’s color.
- Rabbits: Not tameable, but they’ll trust you when you hold dandelions or carrots. Breed with carrots, dandelions, or golden carrots. Drops: rabbit’s foot, rabbit hide, and raw rabbit.
- Axolotls: Found in lush caves. Breed with a bucket of tropical fish. There’s a small chance (0.083%) to get a very rare blue axolotl; otherwise, they inherit a parent’s color.
Mounts in Minecraft: Tame and breed horses, donkeys, camels
Mounts are great for getting around quickly. From horses to camels, there’s plenty of choice. Some can crossbreed, like a horse and donkey to make a mule.
- Horses: Tame by repeatedly mounting. Breed only with golden carrots or golden apples. Selectively breed for high jump and speed.
- Donkeys: Tame like horses; breed with golden carrots or golden apples. Donkeys can carry a chest for extra inventory space.
- Llamas: Tame, then breed with a hay bale. Works for wandering trader llamas too. They also have inventory slots.
- Striders: Found in the Nether. Carry you across lava seas. Breed with warped fungus.
- Nautilus: In vanilla, there’s no rideable nautilus creature. If you play with mods, check the mod description. Some modpacks use pufferfish or other items for breeding.
- Camels: You don’t need to tame them; just breed with cactus.
More Minecraft animals to breed: Ocelot, turtle, panda, frog, fox, hoglin, sniffer, armadillo
You’ll encounter many more animals while exploring. Some aren’t tameable, but they’re still important for certain farms and resources.
- Ocelot: Since the split from cats, ocelots are not breedable. You can only gain their trust with raw fish. They’re less useful than cats.
- Turtle: Breed with seagrass. They lay eggs that hatch over time. Baby turtles drop scutes, which craft the turtle shell helmet. More in the farm guide: (Minecraft: Build an Automatic Turtle Farm – Scutes for Helmets and Potions) .
- Pandas: Need bamboo as food and in the area. They have different genes that pass to their offspring.
- Frogs: Breed with slimeballs. They lay tadpoles, which grow into different frog colors depending on the biome.
- Foxes: Eat sweet berries or glow berries. The baby fox will trust the player.
- Hoglin: Breedable in the Nether with crimson fungi. Careful—they’re aggressive.
- Sniffer: Digs up unique flower seeds. Breed with torchflower seeds. Lays eggs that take about 20 minutes to hatch.
- Armadillo: Found in savannas and deserts. Eat spider eyes. Drop armadillo scutes used for wolf armor.
Conclusion on Minecraft animal breeding: Resources, companions, and rare variants
Breeding is a key part of Minecraft. It lets you gather renewable resources and grow your herd. Whether it’s livestock, companions for adventures, or rare creatures in other dimensions, the fauna is diverse—and so are the breeding methods. Some mobs have special mechanics, like frogs with tadpoles or the very rare blue axolotl.
To make it easier to find and breed every animal, rent one of our Minecraft servers and go search for your favorites. You’ll also be ready for the upcoming drop in early 2026 that brings new versions of baby animals.
