How to build a semi automatic cow farm
Here we will build a semi-automatic cow farm in Java edition 1.21.5.
This is a semi automatic cow farm in that it houses the cows making it easier to breed them and then cooks them to produce food.
This works by keeping the cows for breeding in one pen and dropping the baby cows into another pen, once the baby cows are fully grown you can dispense lava to cook them producing food. The player will have to feed wheat to the cows in the top pen to breed them and also press a button to release the lava.
The main product of this build is steak. Steak is used for the following:
Food - steak restores 8 hunger points and 12.8 saturation, this makes it one of the most efficient foods in Minecraft.
Wolves - can be used to breed and heal tamed wolves, it can also speed up growth in baby wolves.
This build also produces leather which is a useful resource:
Books - can craft books when combined with paper. these can then be turned into bookcases.
Item frames - used to display items on walls
Armour - can be used to craft armour and horse armour.
Bundles - can be used to craft a bundle which is used to store multiple items.
Trade - can trade with 'leatherworker' villagers.
Here's where you can find cows and leather and other uses for them:
Cows - can be found in most places on the map where there are grass blocks.
Milk - can be gained by placing a bucket on a cow. The milk can be drunk when you have been poisoned.
Bartering - piglins in the nether may give leather if given a gold ingot.
Killing - mooshrooms, horses, donkeys, mules, llamas and hoglins may all drop leather when killed.
Loot chests - leather is sometimes found in village chests or bastian remnants.
Crafting - combining 4 rabbit hides to make leather.
Glass block
Hopper
Slab
Dispenser
Bucket
Trapdoor
Button
Ladder
Stairs
Chest
In this section we will discuss the materials and the ingredients that we need to make this build. This will give a concise list of the items and the recipe's to make them.
Hopper - to craft a hopper you will first need to craft a chest.
Dispenser - to craft a dispenser you will first need to craft a bow.
To start this build you will need to find a suitable flat space about 10 blocks by 8 blocks.
Then place a chest down with a hopper on top (you will need to crouch to place the hopper).
Here we will explain in detail how to build a semi automatic cow farm in Minecraft. Please follow the instructions carefully.
Start placing stone blocks to around the chest and hopper 3 blocks high, making sure to leave a 1 block space in front of the chest and hopper.
Place a dispenser on top of the middle block behind the hopper.
Place a slab in the gap at the front of the build, on the bottom half of the block at the third block high.
Continue building another 3 layers to make 6 high total.
Place glass blocks at the front so that you can see what is happening.
Place a bucket of lava into the dispenser.
Place a second dispenser 2 blocks above the first.
Next we need to place a trapdoor in the gap above the hopper just below the second dispenser and open it.
Now we need a pen to hold our cows.
Place 2 stone blocks either side of the second dispenser and then 4 blocks on top.
Now place stone blocks along both sides and glass blocks at the front to make a 4 block x 4 block square with a hole above the hopper covered by the open trapdoor.
Place a bucket of water into the second dispenser.
This shows the view from the back so you can see the back of the dispensers
Place buttons on both dispensers so that you can release the lava and water when you need to.
Place 2 stairs at the front of the build to one side of the hopper so that you can reach the gap (above the slab).
This is so that you can reach the baby cows if you wish to feed them rather than wait for them to grow.
Now for the difficult part getting the cows!
Place blocks and stairs as shown in the screenshot so that the cows end up in your pen and not jumping over the edge.
You will need to lead the cows from wherever you find them back to the build and up the stairs and then into the pen.
They will quite often wander the top wall and need to be knocked into the pen.
You will need at least 2 cows to start breeding but you can have as many as you can hold in the pen.
Once your cows are in the pen destroy the stairs and blocks so that you don't get over run with mobs.
Press the button on the top dispenser to release the water so that the cows bob to the top of the pen to make it easier to feed them.
Feed the cows wheat until hearts appear above them and a baby cow is produced.
Press the button the return the water to the dispenser and the baby should drop through the hole above the hopper.
If you have a lot of cows in the top pen you may need to move them around by holding wheat and moving around so the babies drop through the hole.
Once the babies drop they will sit above the hopper. You can either wait for them to grow naturally or you can feed them wheat through the gap above the slab.
There will be green sparkles to show the cows are growing.
Once the cow is fully grown it can be cooked.
Press the button on the bottom dispenser to release the lava and then again to return it. This will cook the cow.
If you check your chest you should find cooked steak and leather.
What can go wrong - steak not being produced.
You must ensure that the cows are fully grown. Cows that are not fully grown will not drop anything.
What can go wrong - cows escaping out of the top.
The other problem you might have is cows escaping if the top pen is not high enough. The walls need to be at least 2 blocks high.
What can go wrong - mobs in build.
You will get mobs in your build if you don't remove the stairs at the side of the build.
How to make the build easier -
Add ladders to the back of the build to make it easier to reach the buttons and the pen to feed the cows.
Additional builds - There is an extra build that can be placed onto this build to improve it. This is a transport system that will enable you to transport your cows to the top pen, rather than using the stairs and the risk of mobs getting into your build.
