What do sheep eat in Minecraft?

Sheep are one of the passive Minecraft mobs that players may find wandering around in their next survival world.

Sheep can spawn almost everywhere in Minecraft as long as the area has grass blocks and sunlight, with the exception of snowy tundras and wooded badland plateaus during world generation.

Sheep are very useful creatures. When killed, they may drop wool, meat, and experience points. They are often needed at the very beginning of any survival world, as players need wool to craft a bed.

Sheep in Minecraft do not actually eat anything, except for grass off the ground. However, players cannot feed sheep grass. They can feed them wheat instead, which initiates the breeding process.

How players can feed sheep in Minecraft

Eating grass

Players can initiate the breeding process for sheep by feeding them wheat (Image via Minecraft)

When players have sheep fenced in, they may notice dirt patches appearing in the grass of their corral. Technically, sheep occasionally eat grass in Minecraft, but they will not die or despawn without it.

Sheep do not need grass to live, but a sheared sheep will not grow back their wool without eating grass. The same goes for baby sheep. They will not grow into adults without eating grass.

Luckily, grass will regrow on dirt patches quite quickly when the sun is out.

Eating wheat

Whenever a player holds wheat, sheep will walk towards them (Image via Minecraft)

Minecraft sheep seem to enjoy wheat a lot more than grass. Whenever a player holds wheat, sheep will walk towards them. This is a great way for players to lead sheep into their farms and fence them in.

Right-clicking on a sheep with wheat in hand will make the sheep eat it. After feeding a sheep wheat, players will see hearts appear around the sheep. This means that the sheep is ready to mate.

If you give another sheep some wheat, the two sheep will mate and create a baby sheep. This is a great way to farm sheep for food, wool and more, as long as players always have at least two adult sheep and some wheat.

Obtaining wheat

Wheat in Minecraft can be found in farms (Image via Minecraft)

Wheat can be found on a farm. Farms can either be made by players or can found in a village.

If a village cannot be found, players can start their own farm using a hoe, water and some seeds. Simply dig dirt around a water source so that the plowed dirt turns dark, then add seeds to the dirt. Wheat seeds can be found by breaking tall grass.