In various DLC for The Sims 4, such as Cat and Dogs and the new Cottage Living expansion packs, your Sims can keep, and breed various animals, though they may need some encouragement from their owners to make the magic happen.
Not all animals that appear in The Sims are able to procreate. Some are content to graze the land and receive all the affections they need from doting Sim owners. With that being the case, we’ve gone through and laid out which species can create babies and how to breed the ones that do.
How To Breed Cats & Dogs
Cats and dogs are breedable with The Sims: Cats & Dogs expansion. Female cats and dogs may produce litters of between one and three offspring. This comes down to the luck of the draw and is dependant on how many family slots are currently available when the mom gives birth.
Each kitten and pup will take up one family slot each. So if you’re looking for a big happy furry family, you’ll have to make sure there is space to welcome the newest members!
The Mating Cycle For Cats & Dogs
You may have suspected that only females can give birth, when it comes to animals and this is correct. The gestation period will also only last for roughly 24 hours in Sim time. This is different from past games where pet pregnancies lasted as long as human Sims’.
Female pets will indicate they are in heat when little hearts circle around them. You may also notice a heart symbol appear in their thought bubble, just as a human Sim has one when it’s time to woohoo.
Pets will generally need a little encouragement at this point – after all you wouldn’t want them running off and making little fur babies all over town. Interacting with a female pet at this stage should prompt an option to “Encourage to Mate,” which allows you to set the gears in motion between the selected pet and an available mate of your choosing.
Breeding isn’t always a success the first time around, so you may have to wait until your pet’s next heat cycle to try playing cupid again.
It will be fairly apparent whether a mating was successful:
| Successful Mating | The pets will rub noses as a flurry of hearts swirl around both of them – no pet houses rocking about this time. The pet will also gain a positive moodlet. |
|---|---|
| Failed Mating | The pets you attempted to play matchmaker for will react aggressively towards each other and suffer negative moodlets from the botched experience. |
Pet Labor and Birth
In due course, the female pet will be visibly distressed with symptoms such as panting and pacing. Don’t panic! This is merely the indication the pet has gone into labor. That and the game should trigger a push notification to alert you to the household event.
There is no need to have your Sim rush them off to the veterinary clinic in Brindleton Bay. Pregnant pets instinctually know what to do and will lie down to let nature take its course when it's time. A naming prompt will momentarily pop up in the center of your screen upon the litter’s birth, much like when a human baby Sim enters the world.
Professional Breeding
Puppies and kittens can be sold via the phone under the “Hire Service” tab. Selling pets is different from putting a pet up for adoption and is only a prompt available for puppies and kittens, which means your sims could make breeding a viable side business or even a full-time at-home career.
How To Breed Chickens
With The Sims 4: Cottage Living, now chickens are also breedable. Breeding works a bit differently for our feathered friends. You will need to purchase a chicken coop in which your sims may keep up to eight chickens.
Of course, chickens will lay eggs no matter what, but naturally, you will need to keep a rooster in the henhouse for them to hatch. Any fertilized eggs will need to be placed back in the chicken coop, where they must incubate under a hen for 24 hours.
If you’ve got the Wild Fox lot challenge active, you’ll need to protect your coop from the sly bandits who will try to make off with the eggs. For this, you can install a fox alarm on the henhouse or depend on your trusty llama to ward them off with their imposing attitudes and impressive projectile spittle.
Rabbits, Cows, And Llamas
Unfortunately, you cannot breed cows and llamas in The Sims 4: Cottage Living. Sadly, the livestock function more like objects in the game. You’ll buy them from the in-game store, where you can choose from a selection of color variants for your chosen pet. You’ll find cows and llamas where you purchase the sheds your sims will stable them in.
There is no breeding of rabbits. In retrospect, that’s probably a good thing, as that could’ve gotten out of hand sooner than later if they were able to breed as rabbits generally do. Instead, your Sims can attempt befriending the happy hoppers and even dress them in little knit sweaters.
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