Animals
Information on animals, how to find and claim them, animal care tips.
π Finding animals
Livestock can be found at farms in the world. Wild animals can be found in rural areas or woods.
Deer can be picked up if cornered. Drawing an animal zone out can make it easier to find small animals and pick them up. Alternatively crafting a trap can net you either a rabbit or raccoon.
Later in the season animals may be more difficult to find, in which case you can seek to buy from other players via trading or the Survivor Shop.
πClaiming animals
Right-click an animal within 4 tiles and choose Claim this animal; it takes two seconds.
A claimed animal is yours alone, claiming it prevents the following:
- Picking it up.
- Roping or leading it.
- Loading it into a trailer.
- Milking, shearing, butchering.
- Damaging or killing it, hits do it no harm.
Managing Claims
My Animals window in your tray shows every claimed animal and how many slots you have left for each species.
Right-click a claimed animal and choose Release this animal to free its slot.
Wild animals can't be claimed.
Animals are very demanding on multiplayer servers, so there is also a max limit for animals you keep, whether claimed or unclaimed. Check #knowledge-archive > Animal Rules on Discord for the current limit.
Having a large amount of animals in an area can impact performance for other players.
π° Types of animals
| Animal | Produce | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| π Chickens | Eggs, collected from ground or hutch. | |
| π Cows | Milk, collected with a bucket. | Bull to become pregnant and start producing milk. |
| π Pigs | Milk, collected with a bucket. | Boar to become pregnant and start producing milk. |
| π Rabbits | Produce large litters for meat. | |
| π Sheep | Wool, collected with shears and processed at a Spinning Wheel. Milk, collected with a bucket. | Ram to become pregnant and start producing milk. |
| π¦ Turkey | Eggs, collected from ground or hutch. |
- Butchering can yield hide which can be turned into leather or feathers from birds. As well as various meat and bones.
π Transporting animals
While standing near a vehicle trunk or trailer, hold the V button to bring up the radial menu and click the animal icon.
Select the nearby animal you wish to store, or take out an animal.
Note that while in storage, the animal will still require food and water.
π Creating an animal area
Click on the sheep icon on the left side menu to create an animal zone.
Note that if an animal gets stressed, thirsty, hungry or feels threatened they may run out of the zone. Therefore it is best to build fences, railings or walls to pen them in.
Creating a roofed area as shelter from the rain also keeps animals calmer.
A chicken hutch building should not be used as part of the perimeter in place of fencing, as there is a chance for animals will clip through it and escape.
For a list of ideal zone sizes for each type of animal, see this PZWiki table.
π©Ί Caring for animals
π External Guides
π§ Food and water
Some small animals like raccoons can be content with a bucket of water and animal feed bag placed on the floor.
For livestock you can build a trough which can contain either food or water, not both.
Animal feed bags can be found in gardening supply stores, barns or sheds. Alternatively you can right-click on tall grass and take Grass Cuttings, or use a scythe to collect patches of grass. Right-click on hay bales to collect Hay.
Animals can drink from tainted water sources without negative effects, so rain water can keep troughs full, or you can include a body of water like a section of river within the animal zone.
πΌ Rearing babies
If you happen to find an orphaned animal or accept to trade for baby animals from another player, you'll need to hand rear it using a Feeding Bottle and Milk Powder which can be found in barns, kitchens, camping stores and grocery shops.
β Health
Make sure to claim animals to protect them from player damage.
π Chickens
Hutches need to be cleaned to prevent illness. You can find or craft Woodchips to slow the rate at which dirtiness builds.
π Cows
If udder capacity reaches 85% - 100% it may become Sickly and begin to lose health, milking it will alleviate this.
π¦ Keeping deer
Although deer cannot be tamed or claimed, you can corner them in the wild, pick them up, then transport them to an enclosure.
They will almost always be fearful of the player and run around.
As normally they roam across the map, and may not encounter each other, the devs set them to breed quickly when together. Be mindful of keeping their numbers in check to not go over the server limit per player for animals.
They give venison meat, hides for leather, antlers and other bones after Butchering.