To breed donkeys in Minecraft, you need two tamed adult donkeys and a Golden Apple or Golden Carrot for each one. Feed both donkeys their golden treat, and they will enter love mode, causing a baby donkey (foal) to spawn nearby.
What you need to breed donkeys in Minecraft
Before you start breeding, gather the essentials. You need two tamed donkeys, at least one Golden Apple or Golden Carrot per donkey, and a safe, enclosed space. A pen is recommended so the donkeys stay close together and you can control the breeding process without interference from other mobs.
How to find and tame donkeys
Donkeys spawn naturally in Plains and Savanna biomes, often in small groups. Look for them grazing on grass or wandering near trees. To tame a donkey, approach it slowly and right-click (or use your interact button) to mount it. The donkey will buck you off repeatedly; keep trying until it stops resisting and heart particles appear, which signals that it is tamed. Once tamed, you can saddle it and place a chest on it for storage.
Step-by-step donkey breeding process
- Place both tamed donkeys inside your pen, making sure they are close together.
- Hold a Golden Apple or Golden Carrot in your hand.
- Feed the first donkey by right-clicking on it with the food item.
- Feed the second donkey the same way.
- Watch for heart particles to appear above both donkeys, this means they are in love mode.
- Wait a few seconds; the donkeys will approach each other, and a baby donkey (foal) will spawn.
The foal will inherit traits from its parents, such as speed and health, and it will be tamed automatically since both parents are tamed.
How to grow your baby donkey faster
A foal takes about 20 to 30 minutes of in-game time to grow into an adult. If you want to speed up the process, feed the baby donkey additional Golden Carrots or Golden Apples. Each feeding reduces the remaining growth time, so you can raise it to adulthood in just a few minutes if you have enough golden treats on hand.
Breeding a mule with a horse and donkey
You can also cross-breed a tamed horse with a tamed donkey to produce a mule foal. The process is identical: feed both the horse and the donkey a Golden Apple or Golden Carrot. The resulting mule is stronger than a donkey and can carry a chest, but it cannot be bred further, mules are sterile, so they cannot reproduce with other mules, horses, or donkeys.
Tips for successful donkey breeding
Use a minimum 10x10 pen to give your donkeys enough room to move without crowding issues. If the pen is too small, the donkeys may become finicky and refuse to breed. Also, after feeding both donkeys, make sure they are within a few blocks of each other, if they are too far apart, they will not initiate the breeding process, and you will need to feed them again.
