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Animal Breeder

In the RustPotato Animal Breeder for Rust, pick a mother and a father and see what their lamb or calf inherits and gives once grown.

Planning a pair needs JavaScript. What each gene does, and what a wild animal hides behind the gene it shows, are in the tables below..pen-bench{display:none!important}

Pick the animal

Sheep Cow

Mother

Genetics Shows Hidden Yield Fertility Hardiness Dung

Bloodline Empty: wild or bought

Father

Genetics Shows Hidden Yield Fertility Hardiness Dung

Bloodline Empty: wild or bought

The young

one birth

Pick an animal above. Then click a disc to set the gene each parent shows, or leave it on where you do not know.

Shows: the better of the two copies, the one that counts and the only one a status panel can show. Hidden: the other one. A ? gets the odds of a wild animal.

Once grown, on average

Pick Sheep or Cow to see what the young gives once grown.

What each livestock gene does in Rust

Every Rust livestock gene changes what an adult cow, bull or sheep gives or needs, shown here at Bad, Ok and Good and for an Inbred animal, whose genes count for half: an Inbred Good acts as Ok.

Every Rust livestock gene changes what an adult cow, bull or sheep gives or needs, shown here at Bad, Ok and Good and for an Inbred animal, whose genes count for half: an Inbred Good acts as Ok.
Gene	Bad	Ok	Good	Inbred Ok
Yield how much milk or wool it gives	x0.6 6 wool every 8 min 20 s (8 with the Shears), 43.2 an hour 1 milk every 8 min 20 s, 7.2 an hour	x1 10 wool every 5 min (12 with the Shears), 120 an hour 1 milk every 5 min, 12 an hour	x1.6 16 wool every 3 min 7 s (20 with the Shears), 307.2 an hour 2 milk every 3 min 7 s, 38.4 an hour	x0.8 8 wool every 6 min 15 s (10 with the Shears), 76.8 an hour 1 milk every 6 min 15 s, 9.6 an hour
Fertility how many young it carries and how often it breeds	x0.65 1 young a birth, then rests 1 h 42 min	x1 1 young a birth, then rests 1 h 06 min	x1.6 1 or 2 young a birth, 2 in 60% of them, then rests 41 min	x0.825 1 young a birth, then rests 1 h 20 min
Hardiness how slowly it gets hungry, thirsty and restless	x0.667 its needs run down at 150% of an average animal's pace	x1 its needs run down at 100% of an average animal's pace	x2 its needs run down at 50% of an average animal's pace	x0.834 its needs run down at 120% of an average animal's pace
Dung how often it drops dung	x0.6 one every 17 min, 3.6 an hour	x1 one every 10 min, 6 an hour	x1.6 one every 6 min 15 s, 9.6 an hour	x0.8 one every 12 min, 4.8 an hour

What a wild Rust animal hides behind the gene it shows

Each gene copy of a wild Rust cow or sheep is rolled alone: Good 20% of the time, Bad 30%, Ok the rest. Only the better copy can show on the status panel, so here is what the other one is likely to be.

Each gene copy of a wild Rust cow or sheep is rolled alone: Good 20% of the time, Bad 30%, Ok the rest. Only the better copy can show on the status panel, so here is what the other one is likely to be.
The gene shows	Wild animals	The hidden copy is
G Good	36%	Good 11%, Ok 56%, Bad 33%
O Ok	55%	Ok 45%, Bad 55%
B Bad	9%	Bad

How livestock breeding works in Rust, in numbers

A Rust cow, bull or sheep carries four genes with two copies each and shows only the better copy, while passing one copy per parent at random to each lamb or calf. Only an animal with an owner breeds; then it takes 10 minutes of pregnancy and 1 hour of growth, and two matching Bloodline numbers make the young Inbred and cut its genes to half.

What two Rust animals need to breed

Two Rust sheep, or a cow and a bull, breed only as grown animals with an owner, within 30 m of each other and on the same pen floor or both on open ground. A wild one reads "No owner, feed at trough to claim" on its status panel and becomes yours once it eats at your trough. Both need Food, Water, Personal space, Grass and Sun all above 50% (so an animal kept with no grass or no sun never breeds) and a condition above 60%: an animal that drops to 60% stops breeding until it is back at 70%. A pen needs 8 m² of floor a head to breed, the young on the way counted, and an animal with 4.5 m² or less dies there; on open ground a herd of one kind, each within 40 m of another, stops breeding once it would pass 5. An animal lets you lead, milk or shear it calmly after 5 minutes spent within 20 m of it; a Shepherds Pie makes that 2 times faster and a Rich Shepherds Pie 2.5 times, for 15 minutes. A server stops new births of a species at 300 animals.

How often a Rust mother can have young

After a birth a Rust ewe or cow rests before she can carry again: 1 hour 6 minutes with an Ok Fertility gene, 41 minutes with Good, 1 hour 42 minutes with Bad. With 10 minutes of pregnancy that is 0.79 young an hour for an Ok mother and 1.87 for a Good one, who also has twins 60% of the time. The father rests 10 minutes after mating when his Fertility is Ok, so one ram or bull keeps several mothers busy.

Bloodline and Inbred livestock in Rust

Every Rust sheep, cow and bull carries two Bloodline numbers from 0 to 15, one inherited at random from each parent, while a wild or vendor animal rolls both at random. Carrying the same number twice makes the animal Inbred (1 wild animal in 16), which cuts all four genes to half: Good acts as Ok, Ok falls halfway to Bad, and Bad stays Bad. Parents whose four numbers are all different have 0% Inbred young, whereas sharing one number raises the risk to 25%.

Why two Good Rust parents can breed a Bad young

A Rust animal's status panel shows only the better of its two gene copies, never the copy hidden behind it. In the wild, a sheep or cow that shows Good hides another Good only 11% of the time, an Ok 56% and a Bad 33%. Because each parent passes one copy by a coin flip, two Good parents can still have a young that shows Bad, and the livestock vendor weighs the hidden copy as much as the shown one when he prices an animal. Mark the copy under Hidden in the Animal Breeder as soon as a young reveals it: a Bad young from two Good parents proves both carry Bad.

What a grown Rust animal gives

An owned, grown Rust sheep shorn the moment its fleece grows back gives 120 wool an hour with an Ok Yield gene and 307.2 with Good, rams and ewes alike, or 144 with Ok using the Shears, which take 1.25 times the wool. An owned cow gives 12 and 38.4 milk an hour and keeps up to 3 milkings waiting; a bull gives none, and neither does an animal nobody owns. Both drop about 6 dung an hour in good health, faster for a while after eating Bread Loaf or Brioche Bread at a trough. The livestock vendor at the ranch sells a lamb for 150 Scrap and a calf for 300, and buys only grown animals, priced by their genes and their Potential, how content they were while growing up. A sheep raised at 80% contentment or more with Ok genes rates 40% quality and a cow 67%, while he pays nothing for a wild or bought one, which has no mother and so no Potential.

A worked pair in Rust: two wild sheep showing Good Yield

Pairing two wild Rust sheep that both show a Good Yield gene (with their hidden copies and Bloodlines left unknown) produces a lamb that shows Good Yield 80% of the time, Ok 17% and Bad 3%. Because a wild pair produces an Inbred lamb 6% of the time, which halves its genes, 75% of the lambs keep a working Good Yield, and 3.5% roll all four genes Good without being Inbred.

Questions about breeding livestock in Rust

Should I buy a lamb at the ranch or tame a wild one in Rust?

A lamb or calf bought from the livestock vendor at the ranch, 150 or 300 Scrap, is yours from the start and already on the rope, while a wild Rust animal has to be claimed at your trough and won over. Neither has a mother, so the vendor never buys either back: only their young, raised content, carry the Potential he pays for. Their genes are rolled like a wild one's, so the Animal Breeder plans them with an empty Bloodline.

How long does it take to breed sheep in Rust?

Once your ewe and ram are owned, content and have room, breeding sheep in Rust takes 10 minutes of pregnancy, and the lamb grows into a sheep in 1 hour, after which it no longer ages. The ram's genes are kept at mating, so selling him once the ewe is Pregnant changes nothing for the lamb. The Animal Breeder gives her young an hour from her Fertility gene.

How much wool does a sheep give in Rust?

A Rust sheep with an Ok Yield gene gives 10 wool a fleece and one with a Good Yield gene gives 16, or 12 and 20 with the Shears. The fleece grows back 5 min after the last cut for Ok and 3 min 7 s for Good, on a sheep with an owner only: a wild one stays shorn. The Animal Breeder averages the wool or milk an hour the young gives once grown.

Which tools shear a sheep in Rust?

The Salvaged Axe, Hatchet, Bone Knife, Butcher Knife, Combat Knife, Skinning Knife, Shears, Sickle and Vampire Stake all shear a Rust sheep, one quarter of the fleece a hit, so four cuts take it all: 10 wool with an Ok Yield gene, 12 with the Shears. A cut that takes wool never hurts the sheep, but a hit on a quarter already shorn wounds it, except with the Shears, which never hurt a sheep. A Rock, Stone Hatchet, Machete or Pickaxe takes no wool and wounds it.

Can two Good parents have a Bad lamb in Rust?

Yes, two Good parents can have a Bad lamb in Rust: each parent shows its better copy and passes one of its two copies at random, so two wild sheep showing Good can have a lamb showing Bad about 3% of the time, when both hide a Bad copy. Mark that copy under Hidden in the Animal Breeder and the odds of every next pairing follow.

What does Inbred mean on Rust livestock?

An Inbred Rust animal carries the same Bloodline number twice, and its genes count for half. Both numbers show in the Genetics row of its status panel when the server shows genes; an admin prints them with livestock.showgenes. Enter the parents' numbers in the Animal Breeder for the Inbred odds of their young.

Why is the RustPotato Animal Breeder the best animal breeder for Rust?

The RustPotato Animal Breeder is the best animal breeder for Rust because it works out a lamb or calf from both the gene copy each parent Shows and the Hidden copy behind it, plus their Bloodline numbers (or the 1 in 16 wild roll) for Inbred odds. It also averages the wool, milk, dung, young an hour and sale quality once grown.