Hytale: How to Breed Animals — Complete Preparation Guide

30-Second Quick-Start (TL;DR)

• Craft a farmer’s workbench from a normal workbench
• Create capture crates using 4 wood + essence of life
• Make a feed bag (10 wheat, 5 vegetables, 5 fruit, 10 essence of life)
• Hold the feed bag to calm animals, then attack button to capture
• Only babies work for most animals (pigs, sheep, cows) — adults won’t fit
• Build pens and drop captured animals using the same attack button
• For horses: mount adults with F key, lead them to pens manually

What This Guide Helps You Do

This guide teaches you how to capture and prepare animals for Hytale’s upcoming breeding system, giving you a head start on building your farm before the breeding mechanics go live. You’ll learn to build the right tools, capture the correct animals, and set up proper containment systems.

Best for players who want to prepare for future content updates and establish animal farms early in their Hytale playthrough.

Requirements & Prep

Essential Materials

• Wood: 4 pieces per capture crate (any type works)
• Essence of life: Harvest crops or raid village farms
• Wheat: 10 pieces for feed bag
• Vegetables: 5 of any type
• Fruit: 5 of any type (find while exploring or take from villages)

Workstation Setup

• Normal workbench (to craft farmer’s workbench)
• Farmer’s workbench (for capture crates)

Route Overview

Animal capturing follows a straightforward preparation-then-hunt flow. First, you’ll craft your farmer’s workbench and essential tools at your base. Next, you’ll create multiple capture crates and at least one feed bag to calm animals during capture attempts. Then you’ll venture out to find baby animals (adults don’t work for most species), use the feed bag to approach them safely, and capture them with your attack button. Finally, you’ll return to build appropriate pens and release your captured animals to establish your breeding stock.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Craft Your Capture Equipment

Build the farmer’s workbench: Use your normal workbench to craft this specialized station. This unlocks access to animal-related recipes that regular workbenches can’t create.

Create capture crates: At the farmer’s workbench, combine 4 wood (any type) with essence of life. Build at least 6 crates — you’ll want multiple animals and the crates store infinitely in your inventory.

Craft your feed bag: Combine 10 wheat, 5 vegetables, 5 fruit, and 10 essence of life. This single item is crucial for successful captures — animals flee immediately without it.

Locate Your Target Animals

Find baby animals first: Adult pigs and sheep can’t be captured despite appearing to fit. Focus on baby versions of these species, plus chickens, chicks, frogs, rabbits, squirrels, baby mountain goats, and baby wild boars.

Approach with feed bag equipped: Hold the feed bag in your hand or keep it in your inventory. Animals will remain calm instead of fleeing when they spot you.

Common mistake: Trying to sneak up without a feed bag. Animals will run before you get close enough to capture them.

Execute the Capture

Position near your target: Get within close range of the animal you want. The feed bag’s calming effect gives you time to line up properly.

Press attack button to capture: Use your normal attack input (mouse click or controller attack) while targeting the animal. They’ll be absorbed into your crate inventory.

Continue collecting: Since crates reuse infinitely, you can capture multiple animals during a single expedition.

Handle Horses Differently

Mount adult horses directly: Approach adult horses and press F to mount them. There’s no taming system currently — you can ride immediately.

Lead them to your pen: Ride the horse directly into your prepared enclosure. Once inside the pen boundaries, dismount and they’ll stay contained.

Capture baby horses normally: Young horses can be captured with crates like other baby animals.

Set Up Your Animal Pens

Build containment areas: Create enclosed spaces appropriate for your captured animals before releasing them.

Release animals with attack button: Use the same attack input that captured them to drop animals in your chosen location.

Watch for taming hearts: Some animals will display heart particles above their heads when you have the feed bag out, indicating successful taming.

Troubleshooting & Common Mistakes

• Animals running away immediately: Ensure you have a feed bag crafted and in your inventory
• Can’t capture adult pigs/sheep: Only babies work for these species — find younger versions
• Capture attempts not working: The system is buggy; try multiple times or approach from different angles
• Lost animals after capture: Check your inventory — captured animals store as items until released
• Horses won’t follow: Mount them directly and ride them to your pen rather than using crates
• Taming hearts not appearing: This is normal — the taming visual is inconsistent but doesn’t affect captures
• Wasted essence of life: Harvest your own crops rather than constantly raiding villages for sustainable essence production

Advanced Tips & Time Saves

Inventory management: Carry multiple empty crates during hunting expeditions. You can store several captured animals as items and release them all at once back at your base.

Village proximity strategy: Build near existing villages to access established crop farms for essence of life and feed bag ingredients without waiting for your own crops to grow.

Pen preparation: Build your animal enclosures before going hunting. You’ll want to release captured animals immediately to avoid inventory clutter.

FAQ

Q: Can I actually breed animals right now in Hytale?
A: No, breeding isn’t currently implemented. This guide helps you prepare for when the breeding update releases.

Q: Why won’t adult pigs and sheep fit in capture crates?
A: Despite appearing smaller than some capturable animals, adult pigs and sheep are coded as too large for crates. Only babies of these species work.

Q: Do I need the feed bag in my hand or just in inventory?
A: The feed bag works from your inventory, but holding it in your hand seems to make the calming effect more reliable.

Q: How do I get essence of life if there are no villages nearby?
A: Harvest any crops you can grow. Essence of life drops from crop harvesting, so plant and harvest wheat, vegetables, or other farmable plants.

Q: Can I reuse capture crates after releasing an animal?
A: Yes, crates are infinitely reusable. After releasing an animal, the empty crate remains in your inventory for future captures.

Q: What happens if I die with captured animals in my inventory?
A: You’ll probably lose the captured animals along with other inventory items, so release them into secure pens as soon as possible.