What do cows eat in Minecraft to grow?

Who this is for: Minecraft players wanting to understand cow feeding mechanics and build efficient livestock farms.


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🌾 Wheat: The Primary Food for Minecraft Cows

Cows in Minecraft eat wheat to grow from babies into adults. When you feed wheat to a baby cow, it reduces the remaining growth time by 10% each time. You’ll need to feed wheat multiple times to fully mature a baby cow – typically around 10 pieces of wheat will get the job done.

How to Feed Wheat to Baby Cows

Feeding cows is straightforward once you know the process:

  • Hold wheat in your hand
  • Right-click (or tap on mobile) on the baby cow
  • You’ll see green sparkles appear around the cow
  • The cow will make eating sounds and grow slightly larger
  • Repeat until the cow reaches full adult size

Getting Wheat for Your Cows

You can obtain wheat through several methods:

  • Farming: Plant wheat seeds on tilled soil near water and wait for them to grow
  • Village chests: Search for wheat in village storage areas
  • Dungeon loot: Find wheat in various loot chests throughout the world
  • Trading: Some villagers will trade wheat for emeralds

Other Uses for Wheat with Cows

Beyond growing baby cows, wheat serves other important purposes:

  • Breeding: Feed wheat to two adult cows to make them produce a baby cow
  • Leading: Hold wheat to attract and lead cows around your world
  • Healing: Adult cows can be healed by feeding them wheat if they’ve taken damage

Breeding Mechanics

When breeding cows, both parents need to be fed wheat within a short time window. After breeding, there’s a cooldown period of about 5 minutes before the same cows can breed again. The baby cow that’s produced will take 20 minutes to grow naturally, but you can speed this up significantly by feeding it wheat.

Tips for Efficient Cow Farming

To maximize your cow farming efficiency, consider these strategies:

  • Build a fenced area to keep your cows contained
  • Plant a wheat farm nearby for easy access to food
  • Keep at least two adult cows for continuous breeding
  • Use a hopper system to automate wheat distribution if you’re playing with redstone

Understanding cow feeding mechanics helps you build sustainable farms and maintain healthy livestock populations in your Minecraft world. If you’re looking to explore more farming and survival strategies, you might enjoy discovering other creative building and survival challenges.

TL;DR

Cows in Minecraft eat wheat to grow from babies to adults. Feed wheat multiple times (about 10 pieces) to fully mature a baby cow, reducing growth time by 10% per feeding.

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Joyst1ck

Gaming Writer & HTML5 Developer

Answering gaming questions—from Roblox and Minecraft to the latest indie hits. I write developer‑focused HTML5 articles and share practical tips on game design, monetisation, and scripting.

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