[Animals 101] How To Breed & Care For Sheep

Welcome to your next "Animal 101" lesson of the Farming Simulator Academy! Today, we're focusing on sheep. We'll show you how to house, feed, and breed your woolly companions – and what to do with the wool they produce. Let's start!

What Is Special About Sheep?

There are four breeds of sheep in Farming Simulator: Landrace of Bentheim, Steinschaf, Swiss Black-Brown Mountain and Black Welsh Mountain Sheep. They only differ in appearance, so simply choose your favourite.

Housing Options

Sheep housing differs in price and care requirements:

• Pasture: Requires feed and water.
• Barns: Require feed, but no manual water delivery.

Tip! If you can afford it, a barn saves you the extra work and equipment needed for manual water delivery.

Feeding Options

Sheep eat grass or hay. Both provide 100% productivity (meaning wool production), so use whichever is easier for you to supply. You can feed either loose material or bales. If you mow grass yourself, you can feed it fresh or turn it into hay. Alternatively, you can buy hay bales at the dealership.

Tip! Meadow can replace grass delivered by you as long as it's available. Check the animal tab in the menu to make sure there is enough supply.

How to get water: If your pasture requires water, deliver it with a compatible tank trailer. Fill it from a water tank placed through the construction menu or from a suitable river or lake. Natural water sources are free; water from a placed tank costs money.

Breeding Sheep

Sheep can reproduce when:

• they are at least 8 months old,
• their health is at 100%, and
• there is free space for another animal.

Keep your sheep properly fed to maintain their health.

What You Need For Sheep

Basic equipment:

• Tractor with a front loader and loading equipment: Use a bale spike for bales and a pallet fork for pallets such as wool.
• Water tank: Only required if you use a pasture and need to provide water manually.

Optional: Transporting sheep yourself

• Use a compatible animal trailer if you want to transport sheep yourself instead of paying for direct delivery.
• Look for the sheep icon to make sure a trailer supports sheep.
• Larger trailers may require a truck or dolly. Check the displayed "Combinations" before buying.

Tip! If you do not want to transport the animals yourself, you can save the cost of an animal trailer and use direct delivery instead for a fee.

Let’s Get To Work!

Step 1: Buy sheep

• Choose your preferred breed.
• Choose the age of the animals.
• Buy them directly at the housing or transport them yourself.

Tip! Don't fill your housing to maximum capacity if you want your sheep to reproduce. Leave some free space for offspring.

Step 2: Feed and care for the sheep

Provide grass or hay and check the animal screen regularly to make sure your sheep are well-fed. If your pasture requires water, keep its water supply filled.

Step 3: Sell sheep and wool or process wool

Sell excess sheep directly at the housing or transport them yourself. Move wool pallets with a pallet fork and take them to a suitable selling point or production facility.

Processing Wool: Products

Instead of selling wool directly, you can process it into other products. The overview above shows two main routes:

• Clothes: Deliver wool to a Spinnery to produce Fabric, then process the Fabric at a Tailor Shop to make Clothes.
• Rope and Wagons: Deliver wool to a Rope Maker to produce Rope. Rope can be used together with Fabric and Long Boards at a Wagon Builder to make a Wagon.

Available production facilities and selling points depend on the map.

Tip! Processing wool requires more work and may require additional materials. In return, finished products can be more valuable than selling raw wool directly.

Well Done!

Congratulations! You now know the basics of keeping sheep in Farming Simulator. When you're ready, continue with the next Farming Simulator Academy lesson!