If you’re planning to build a proper farm in The Sims 4, getting a cow is definitely one of the first things you should consider.
You can buy cows directly from an Animal Shed. Click on the shed and select Purchase Animal.
There are two cow options available: brown and spotted. Both cost 400 Simoleons. Once you buy one, give it a name and start taking care of it.
You can also purchase cows at the Finchwick Fair. The Cow Fair takes place once every Sim year, which is four weeks.
If you no longer want your cow, you can also submit it to the fair and trade it for Simoleons.
Taking care of cows isn’t particularly difficult, but you do need to stay on top of a few things.
Keep their happiness high by regularly socializing with them and giving them treats. You can hug them, pet them, and use other friendly interactions.
As your relationship improves, you’ll unlock more interactions with your cow. You can even tip your cow with money.
The Animal Shed needs to be kept clean too. Clean it every day because cows don’t like staying in a dirty shed.
You should also brush your cows regularly. They get dirty, and if you neglect them and their shed for too long, they may run away.
If your cow is hungry, you can feed it by hand. You should also milk your cows regularly. You can hover over a cow in Live Mode to see when milk is available to collect.
The easiest way to keep your cows happy is to spend time with them and use friendly interactions. Keep the shed clean, brush your cows regularly, give them treats, and make sure they’re fed.
Building a good relationship with your cows is useful because it unlocks additional interactions and can also affect the milk they produce.
It’s worth upgrading your Animal Shed once you have the required upgrade parts.
The Livestock Auto-Feeder keeps the shed stocked with feed, so you don’t have to worry about feeding your cows manually as often.
You can also install the Comfort Care Life Extender, which increases your cows’ lifespan.
You’ll need upgrade parts for these upgrades. You can get them by completing errands for the villagers.
Milk is one of the main resources you can get from cows.
A cow produces milk every day, and you can get around six bottles of milk from each cow.
You can use the milk for cooking, make cheese with it, or simply sell it for Simoleons. I’d recommend keeping some of it, though, since quite a few recipes require milk.
The type of milk your cow produces depends on your relationship with it and the treats you give it. So there’s another good reason to take care of your cows and keep them happy.
What treats can you give your cows?
There are quite a few treats you can give your cows, and each one has a different effect:
Animal Party Treat: Gives the animal a +1 Social effect.
Chocolaty Treat: Produces chocolate milk.
Flirty Treat: Produces strawberry milk.
Fishy Protein Treat: Gives a +1 boost to the next harvest.
Friendly Treat: Improves your relationship with the animal.
Fruity Treat: Produces enriched milk. Tipping your cow with money can also produce more Enriched Milk.
Golden Treat: Produces golden honey milk.
Healthy Treat: Increases your cow’s lifespan.
Midnight Treat: Produces obsidian milk.
Pumpkin Treat: Produces pumpkin spice milk.
Rainbow Treat: Produces rainbow milk.
Spicy Treat: Produces fire milk.
Veggie Treat: Produces mighty plant milk.
The different types of milk can have different uses, so it’s worth experimenting with the treats rather than giving your cows the same one every time.
You can’t breed cows in The Sims 4. There are no calves in the game, so you can’t have your cows reproduce.
If you want another cow, you’ll need to purchase one.
Chickens are different because you can breed them using hatchable eggs, but the same mechanic isn’t available for cows.