Valheim: How to Breed Animals

If there’s one thing that everyone can agree on about Valheim, it’s that it’s a properly massive game. There is a wide array of biomes to explore, and each contains items and resources you’ll need to explore the more dangerous biomes more easily. As such, you’ll want to get a nice stockpile of resources going sooner rather than later, which is why we’ve compiled a guide on how to breed animals in Valheim.

It’s worth noting, though, that this guide will only briefly touch on how to tame animals. For the finer points on that, check out our guides on how to tame Boar and how to tame Wolves.

How to Breed Animals in Valheim

In order to breed animals, you’ll need to complete a few specific steps first.

To start, you’ll need to have a Workbench built at your settlement of choice. It costs 10 Wood to craft, and will allow you to build a pen for keeping tamed animals in. You can get wood by chopping down trees with an axe, and then craft the Workbench from the Crafting menu by pressing the Tab button.

Build yourself a Workbench, and once it’s built, head out to gather food to tame some animals with. The type of food you’ll need will vary based on the animal, but it tends to be linked to the type of animal they are. For example, a Boar will require Fruits and Vegetables to be tamed. Wolves, meanwhile, require meat to become docile.

You can gather Fruits and Vegetables from bushes and shrubs scattered throughout Valheim’s Meadows biome, while meat can be obtained by killing animals like Deer or Boar.

Gather up the necessary food stuffs, and once you’ve got a decent amount, go find the animal you intend to breed. Use the necessary food items to tame them, and then travel back to the settlement where you built your Workbench.

How to Get Two Animals in One Pen

Once you arrive, you’ll then need to build a pen around them using wooden fencing. This can be built using the Workbench for one Wood apiece, and you’ll need to make sure the fencing creates an enclosed square.

Gather the necessary wood, and then build some fencing around your tamed animal. Once they stop trying to follow you, you’ll know they’ve been successfully enclosed in the pen.

After that, you’ll be good to go and track down a second animal for breeding. Repeat the steps laid out above until you return to your settlement. Once you do, interact with the Workbench to remove one piece of the pen’s fencing. Lead the second animal into the pen, and then replace the fencing to close the pen back up.

Now that you have two animals in a pen together, you’re finally ready to breed them. This is done by dropping some of the same food used to tame them in the pen when either or both of them have the Hungry status upon inspecting them. Doing so will elevate them to the Happy status, after which they’ll have a chance to mate. This will be indicated by pink hearts appearing above them.

A short while after they mate, a baby animal will be born. It will then grow into a full-grown animal after some time has passed, and you can then raise or slaughter it as you see fit.

Why You Should Breed Animals in Valheim

As for why you’d want to breed animals in Valheim, it comes down to establishing a good supply of food and resources.

By regularly breeding animals, you can ensure a steady flow of items like leather, meat, and pelts. These can then be used for crafting new armor, healing yourself during battle and keeping a stockpile of items to sell to traders respectively.

That’s all there is to know about how to breed animals in Valheim. For more on the game, check out our guide wiki. It has plenty of other guides on topics like how to get a pickaxe and how to level ground.