Tutorials/Animal farming

Steps
(Note: Due to way animals spawn in Beta 1.8 and above, this design may no longer work.)

You will need:
 * Dirt
 * Cobblestone
 * Grass blocks
 * A light source, such as torches or glowstone
 * Trapdoors or signs
 * Fences
 * Bone meal

Step 1


Make a tall column out of cobblestone like in the picture and put dirt on top of the cobblestone and grass on top of that.

Step 2


Make a 2×2 hole and line it with trapdoors or signs.

Step 3


Ensure the trapdoors are open, otherwise the mobs won't fall through. If you used signs or some other block that operates the same, disregard this step.

Step 4


For more passive mobs to spawn, you will need to expand the grassy area.

Step 5


Create a hole at the bottom of the column as in the image.

Step 6


Now place fences on the outside of the dirt to stop any mobs from falling off, and don't forget to place bone meal.

Final Step


Place glowstone (or the light source of your choice) to prevent hostile mobs from spawning.

To solve the problem of your items despawning, read the optional steps.

Optional Parts
Hollow out more of the column like in step 5. It should look like this:



Put chests and hoppers like this:



If you want cooked meat then add four signs in the column, then add lava above the signs. This can also solve the chicken problem.

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