The Rust Livestock Update turns the cow from wandering scenery into a farming system. Now, players can tame, raise, breed, milk, and sell cattle for rewards. Cows also add a resource loop and promote additional progression mechanics. This guide shows you the details on getting, raising, and breeding a Cow in Rust.

How to Get a Cow in Rust

Getting a Cow in Rust has two main routes: tame a wild animal and lead it home, or purchase a calf from the Livestock Vendor at the Ranch or Large Barn. Wild cattle gain trust as you spend time within 20 meters of them. Hurting the animal increases the taming timer by 60 seconds, while hurting its herd adds 30 seconds. Below are the trust levels you’ll encounter when trying to tame a cow in Rust:

• Known: A curious animal follows you when staying nearby for at least 5 seconds.
• Tolerated: Adult male and female cows stop threatening you when you’re near for at least 30 seconds.
• Bonded: After 5 minutes of staying near cows, you can tame, lead, and milk them. Also, the Tool Cupboard (TC) becomes the animal’s home, and it can now age, breed, and drop dung.
• Herd: Stay for at least 15 minutes within the vicinity of cows.

Additionally, you may consume a Shepherd’s Pie to grant a 15-minute buff that makes livestock build trust with you faster. Craft this item at the Kitchen Workbench using 3x Wheat, 3x Egg, 2x Cooked Mutton, and 1x Potato. Wild animals also treat you as at least “Tolerated,” helping you save time during the taming process. Once bonded, the animal can be led to your base. Although multiple livestock can be led together, the leads may break if they get stuck or if you move too quickly. Aside from taming a wild Cow, you can purchase one from the Livestock Vendor. Check out the Scrap costs of each cow and bull sold by this NPC below:

• Wild (OK Genes): 373x Scrap
• Wild (Good Genes): 582x Scrap
• Bred (OK Genes): 466x Scrap
• Bred (Good Genes): 700x Scrap

You can also sell your grown cows back to the Livestock Vendor, which is key to maximizing returns on useful items.

Raising a Cow in Rust

As with their real-world counterparts, cows in Rust have three primary needs: food, water, and space. Below is the standard procedure to raise cows: Secure a livestock pen. Craft the Animal Fence (uses 250x Wood per unit) and Animal Fence Gate (uses 500x Wood per unit), and create a perimeter for the cows. Place a Hitch & Trough to supply the cows with food and water. Craft this structure using 200x Wood. Stay within the enclosure. Build trust with your cattle to increase familiarity, keep the herd together, and prevent potential escapes. It may seem straightforward, but Facepunch also incorporated nuances to promote efficiency when caring for cattle. Different food sources offer different benefits. Cows can graze grass, but it’ll leave a dry patch after eating pasture from the same location for too long. The animals may also quench their thirst with nearby bodies of water. Rivers and lakes are notable examples, but the animals can also drink from the Hitch & Trough. Note that one drinking session from a cow reduces the Hitch & Trough’s water supply by up to 200 ml. Although it doesn’t require players to use items to feed cattle, providing certain food items through the trough can provide additional benefits. The food you can feed cows and their effects are as follows:

• Brioche Bread: Calories: 190 | Fullness: 45.6%
• Bread Loaf: Calories: 150 | Fullness: 36%
• Potato: Calories: 125 | Fullness: 30%
• Pumpkin: Calories: 80 | Fullness: 19.2%
• Corn: Calories: 75 | Fullness: 18%
• Wheat: Calories: 75 | Fullness: 18%
• Granola Bar: Calories: 60 | Fullness: 14.4%
• Black Raspberries: Calories: 40 | Fullness: 9.60%
• Apple: Calories: 30 | Fullness: 7.20%
• Blueberries: Calories: 30 | Fullness: 7.20%
• Black Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Blue Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Green Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Honeycomb: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Red Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• White Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Yellow Berry: Calories: 5 | Fullness: 1.20%
• Grub: Calories: 3 | Fullness: 7%
• Worm: Calories: 1 | Fullness: 2%

Don’t forget to defend your cow pasture from human enemies. Other players may try to prevent your progression by killing the cattle in your enclosure. So, add defensive buildables surrounding the animals’ perimeter to improve their safety.

Cow Breeding, Genes, & Qualities

Livestock can inherit genetics, creating the progression system for animal husbandry in Rust. Each animal can carry two copies from a 5-gene pool, with the better copy outperforming the others. These genes, affects, and qualities are as follows:

Dung (D)

• Affect: The frequency of dung dropping
• Qualities: Bad: 0.6x | OK: 1x | Good: 1.6x | Inbred OK: 0.8x

Longevity (L)

• Affect: Lifespan of an adult cow, which is about 48 hours
• Qualities: Bad: 0.65x | OK: 1x | Good: 1.6x | Inbred OK: 0.825x

Yield (Y)

• Affect: Milk amount
• Qualities: Bad: 0.6x | OK: 1x | Good: 1.6x | Inbred OK: 0.8x

Fertility (F)

• Affect: Breeding cooldown and litter size
• Qualities: Bad: 0.65x | OK: 1x | Good: 1.6x | Inbred OK: 0.825x

Hardiness (H)

• Affect: The animal’s capacity to manage unfulfilled needs
• Qualities: Bad: 0.7x | OK: 1x | Good: 1.5x | Inbred OK: 0.85x

Each newborn calf gets a random copy of each gene from its parents. But be warned, as inbreeding can occur in Rust. If so, their genes become weaker than normal. Cow parents may also breed a god clone, which has all 10 copies as “Good.” It’s also possible for players in Rust servers to read a cow’s genes based on its appearance. Watch out for the following physical traits to know which cattle are good for breeding:

• Yield: More patch coverage on the cow’s coat often means better Yield.
• Dung: A cow with brown, rust-colored patches typically means it can generate Good Dung, while near-black patches mean it’s Bad.
• Longevity: The cow has large blotches.
• Fertility: A cow with smooth patch edges typically means it has Bad Fertility, while ragged patch edges can mean it’s Good.
• Hardiness: A longer, shaggier coat often means better Hardiness.

Cow Yields & The Livestock Economy (How to Get Low Grade Fuel From Cows)

Interact with a tame, adult female cow to milk it. Unlike real life, you don’t need a tool or container to complete this operation. Better Yield genes produce more milk and shorten the cooldown. Players can consume Milk directly or skim it into Skimmed Milk and Cream. Milk can extend the tea-effect duration, while Cream increases tea potency. A tame cow can also produce Dung. The cattle must not be starving for it to produce this ingredient for Low Grade Fuel.

Cow Raising Tips & Tricks

Make the most of caring for your cow with these helpful tips and tricks:

• Build the pen before bringing home the cattle. Prepare the livestock area before capturing or purchasing a cow to prevent the animal from straying too far from your base once tamed.
• Prevent overcrowding. Overcrowding begins at around five animals in a pen, and it’ll be severe at nine. So, plan your enclosure around long-term breeding rather than squeezing in as many cows as possible.
• Separate breeding stock from livestock to sell. Doing so helps prevent overcrowding and allows you to quickly designate which animals to sell, keep, and breed.
• Sell only when the trade makes sense. Take your grown cattle to the Stable and evaluate the vendor’s offer before accepting it. You can reject an offer and receive additional offers, but the vendor will temporarily stop buying after too many rejections.