Livestock breeding

• Shown and hidden genes. Every gene has two copies. The big row is the one the animal shows, the small row the hidden one it can still pass on. Good beats neutral or bad. Each young gets one copy of every gene from each parent. Game code
• The blue number is a family mark. Each parent passes on one of its two at random. A young with two matching numbers is inbred, so pair animals whose numbers don’t match. Game code
• Taming takes 15 minutes. Stay close and don’t hit it. You can lead it after 5 minutes (from then on it won’t forget you); Facepunch says it can breed after 15 (Hotfix 3). A Shepherd’s Pie makes it twice as fast. Facepunch, Hotfix 3 note; game files; RustHelp
• Feed them before you log off. Once the grass runs out, a full trough of potatoes may feed two animals for only about 4 hours. Potatoes fill a trough best. The trough calculator above works it out. Game files; player tests
• Give them room. More than 8 of a kind within 20 metres makes them unhappy, and at 12 only good-Hardiness animals keep breeding. Game files
• Separate the young. Animals in one pen breed on their own, fathers with daughters too, so inbred young turn up within a day. Player tests
• Breed your own to sell. The Stables vendor pays in scrap, low grade, HQM, fragments or even a gun. Bred animals fetch the most; wild, bought, hungry or old ones less. Three offers, then a 15-minute wait. No milk, young or pregnant animals. Facepunch; player videos; RustHelp
• Walk them home. A lead snaps past 7 metres or when you sprint. A pickup truck or a two-module flatbed carries two. RustHelp; player videos
• Calf 300 scrap, lamb 150. Buy them at the Stables and pick the sex. They come already tamed to you. Game code; seen in game
• Wool: 25 to 400 per trade. Same vendor, three offers. 400 wool gets the best ones. Facepunch developers

Sources: Facepunch’s Livestock Update devblog, Facepunch’s public commit log, the game’s own files and code, player videos, and RustHelp (the price table). Checked 4 October 2026.