--- title: "Animal Ranching: Project Zomboid" description: "Guide on animal ranching" url: https://help.chiphead.tech/en/articles/249-animal-ranching-project-zomboid collection: "Project Zomboid" updated: 2026-06-12 language: en --- # Animal Ranching: Project Zomboid Guide on animal ranching **Project Zomboid** is an open-world zombie survival game set in post-apocalyptic Kentucky, where players must scavenge, craft, and survive for as long as possible. With **Build 42**, the game introduced **Animal Ranching** - a deep new system allowing players to **domesticate, raise, and breed livestock**. Animal ranching brings a new layer of realism and sustainability to survival, letting players produce renewable resources like **milk, meat, eggs, leather, and wool**. To succeed, players must feed, water, and shelter their animals while managing breeding cycles and protecting them from the dangers of the apocalypse. * * * ### 🐾 Animal Ranching Overview

Animal	Products	Mating Season	Notes
Cows	Milk, Meat, Leather	None	Bulls can be aggressive and fight each other. Calves need their mother’s milk. Cows produce milk only after giving birth.
Pigs	Meat, Leather	Sept – Feb	Can be aggressive. Sows do not produce milk.
Chickens	Eggs, Meat, Feathers, Chicken Feet	None	Requires a Chicken Hutch for shelter and egg laying. Needs a Rooster nearby for eggs to hatch. Keep the hutch door closed at night to protect from predators. Clean the hutch regularly.
Rabbits	Small Meat	None	Breed quickly and can be tamed faster when picked up.
Rats & Mice	Small Meat	None	Breed extremely fast, can mate while adolescent, and can be led with a rope.
Sheep	Wool, Meat, Milk	Sept – Feb	Rams can be aggressive and fight. Lambs need their mother’s milk. Wool can be spun into yarn or thread.
Turkeys	Meat, Feathers	April – May	Bred mainly for meat and feathers.

* * * > **Info:** **Note:** 🦌 Deer and raccoons cannot currently be domesticated. They will always flee from players and cannot be ranched. * * * > **Info:** **Tip:** > For efficient ranching, ensure each animal has proper food, shelter, and care. A well-managed farm not only boosts survival chances but also creates a self-sustaining homestead - perfect for long-term life in the world of **Project Zomboid**.