How to Breed Cows in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Feed wheat to each of two cows to put them in love mode. A calf spawns right away, the parents need 5 minutes before breeding again (1 minute in Bedrock), and you get 1-7 XP. Mooshrooms breed exactly the same way.

What you need

Wheat (2 per breeding)
2 cows or mooshrooms
A fenced pen

Step by step

Grow wheat: break tall grass for seeds, hoe dirt near water, and wait or use bone meal.
Hold the wheat so cows follow you - from about 10 blocks away (16 in Bedrock) - and lure two into a fenced pen.
Feed wheat to each cow: hearts appear and a calf spawns, plus 1-7 XP for you.
The parents can breed again after 5 minutes (1 minute in Bedrock). The calf grows up in 20 minutes; each wheat you feed it cuts the remaining time by 10%.
Cows are the best ranch animal in the game: milk them with a bucket to clear status effects, and harvest adults for leather (books and armor) and steak.

Java vs Bedrock

Breeding works the same in Java and Bedrock except the parents' cooldown: 5 minutes in Java, 1 minute in Bedrock. Follow range is 10 blocks in Java and 16 in Bedrock.

Versions: Cows were added in Alpha 1.0.8 in July 2010 and could breed from Beta 1.9 (2011). Update 1.21.5 added warm and cold cow variants. Mooshrooms, the mushroom-island cousins, breed with the same wheat.

Frequently asked questions

Can mooshrooms breed with cows?

No. Mooshrooms only breed with other mooshrooms, using wheat just like cows. Breeding two mooshrooms of different types has a small chance of producing the other type.

Why breed cows instead of pigs?

Cows drop leather as well as steak, and leather is needed for books, item frames and armor. Wheat also auto-replants in most crop farms, so cow breeding scales well.

How do I get milk?

Use an empty bucket on an adult cow or mooshroom. Milk is not food - drinking it clears every status effect, good and bad, which makes it the counter to poison and Wither.