Smart Feeding Troughs
ModSmart Feeding Troughs automatically feeds and breeds nearby animals in a natural and vanilla-friendly way.
Type
Mod
Modrinth Downloads
211
Modrinth ID
4dEFIhvD
Last Updated
May 22, 2026
Description
Smart Feeding Troughs
Smart Feeding Troughs automatically feeds and breeds nearby animals in a natural and vanilla-friendly way. Also adds an edible Hay Bale Block which allows wheat eating animals to feed directly from the bale.
Features
- Supports both Fabric and NeoForge loaders
- Shear a Hay Bale and animals that eat wheat can feed directly from the block 8 times.
- Enforces a population cap and stops feeding once the cap is reached.
- Animals feed only if a nearby eligible mate is also ready to breed, avoiding wasted food.
- Works with any modded animal that extends the vanilla Animal class. Tested with Alex's Mobs.
- Designed for maximum efficiency by minimizing expensive scanning.
- Supports automated input through top and sides via vanilla hoppers.
- Fully configurable, with command-line and UI options via Cloth Config and Mod Menu.
How to use:
To craft a Smart Trough you need any wooden slabs and planks, combine them in a crafting table and place the trough. Insert eligible food into the 4-slot inventory. i.e. wheat for cows, seeds for chickens, etc.
Future Plans
This mod is being actively developed and the following are the potential planned features and improvements:
- Dynamic rendering of contents showing visual clue on how full the trough is.
- Redstone support: disable via signal, comparator support
- Debugging: visually indicate which animals are claimed by the trough
- If troughs are adjacent, optionally change model to show one long trough (like a vanilla double chest)
- Store XP so the player can collect it later (like a vanilla furnace)
- Feed hurt animals so they heal.
- Feed baby animals so they have a chance to grow faster.
- Improved feeding animation or effects for visual feedback
- Add all wood types
- Config: allow per animal type settings
- Config: whitelist/blacklist animals
Config Options
- range: Maximum distance at which animals can be claimed by the trough. (Default: 16)
- maxClaimedAnimals: Maximum number of animals each trough can claim. Add more troughs to increase the cap further. (Default: 24)
- troughClaimCheckInterval: Number of ticks the trough waits before searching for more animals to claim. (Default: 600)
- feedChance: Probability that an animal will feed when ready. This adds natural variation and can be set to 1.00 for a 100% chance. (Default: 0.25)
Changelog
1.1.0
- Added Edible Hay Bale
- Fixed bug where population cap could sometimes be significantly exceeded
License: MIT
Source: https://github.com/kingnhcomcast/Smart-Breeding-Troughs
Permissions: You are welcome to use this mod in your modpack. If you do, feel free to leave a comment and let me know.
If you want support for other minecraft versions or feature requests, leave a comment!
Enjoy!
Compatibility
Mod Loaders
Game Versions
Screenshots
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