Tamed animals in Valheim breed in your pen, and the lox, Asksvin and moose will even carry you. This guide explains which animals you can tame, how to build a pen, what to feed them, how the hearts and breeding work, what the saddles are for and where to get chickens. It applies to Valheim 1.0 after patch 1.0.20 (15 October 2026).
Which animals you can tame
You can tame five kinds of animals. Chickens are not tamed, they hatch from eggs (more below).
| Animal | Biome | Food | Pen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boar | Meadows | berries, mushrooms, carrots | Roundpole Fence is enough |
| Wolf | Mountains | meat | at least Stakewall, or a pit |
| Lox | Plains | Cloudberries, Barley, Flax | stone walls |
| Asksvin | Ashlands | not listed | not listed |
| Moose | Deep North | not listed | not listed |
We leave out food for the Asksvin and the moose on purpose. The guides either disagree or only one outlet covers it.
How taming works
The basic process looks like this:
- Build a pen or dig a pit from a material the animal cannot break.
- Lure the animal inside and close the pen.
- Throw it some food and step back.
- Wait. The animal must not be alerted, otherwise taming stops.
Hearts above the animal show the progress. Once they appear, the animal is eating and taming. There is also a tame console command, but it counts as a cheat and blocks achievements. More in our console commands guide.
Boar
Boars live in the Meadows and eat plant food: berries, mushrooms and carrots. A Roundpole Fence is enough for the pen. Watch out for fire, boars are afraid of it.
Wolf
Wolves live in the Mountains and eat meat. A Roundpole Fence will not hold them, so build the pen from at least Stakewall, or trap the wolf in a pit. Expect taming a wolf to take roughly half an hour. Bring frost protection for the Mountains.
Lox
A lox from the Plains will smash a wooden pen. You need stone walls. Feed it Cloudberries, Barley or Flax. Barley and Flax grow on the Plains and can be farmed.
Saddles and riding
These tamed animals can carry you:
- Lox with the Lox Saddle, rideable since the Hearth & Home update.
- Asksvin from the Ashlands with the Asksvin Saddle. The Asksvin also lays eggs (Asksvin Egg).
- Moose from the Deep North with the Moose Saddle, added in 1.0.
What waits for you in the fire biome is covered in our Ashlands guide, the far north in the Deep North guide.
Breeding and offspring
When you keep two tamed, fed (“happy”) animals in a pen, they will randomly mate and an offspring appears that grows up over time. To breed, all you need to do is keep them fed.
Animals with stars are stronger and give more resources. Since patch 1.0.20 they also have a higher chance to drop a trophy, and the chance grows with the number of stars.
You can name tamed animals. You will not hurt them by accident unless you turn on friendly fire or use the Butcher Knife.
Chickens and eggs
Poultry came with the Mistlands and works differently from the other animals. You can buy an egg from the trader Haldor, or a hen lays one. A chick hatches from the egg and hens lay more eggs. Where to find Haldor and what else he sells is in our traders guide.
A farm next to the pen
Your own fields help with feeding. You prepare soil with the Cultivator (made from bronze) and plant seeds found in the different biomes: carrots, turnips and onions. Carrots from your field double as boar food, and Barley and Flax from the Plains feed the lox. The Farming skill lowers the Cultivator’s stamina cost and gives a chance of a bigger harvest, and the Scythe speeds up harvesting. What to cook from your crops is in our food guide, where things grow in the biome order guide.
Join our Discord to show off your best starred animal or ask how other players build their pens. Come in via Discord GamersTogether.
FAQ
Boars, wolves, lox, the Asksvin from the Ashlands and the moose from the Deep North. Chickens are not tamed, they hatch from eggs.
Hearts appear above it. The animal must be in a pen, fed and not alerted.
Roughly half an hour. Wolves eat meat and need a pen of at least Stakewall or a pit, a Roundpole Fence will not hold them.
Keep two tamed, fed animals in a pen. They will randomly mate and the offspring grows up over time.
Buy an egg from Haldor. A chick hatches from it, and hens then lay more eggs.
Information verified on 19 October 2026. More guides are in our Valheim hub.