Ethological!

The main goal of Ethological! is to bring a natural living ecosystem to the minecraft world, one update at a time! Currently sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens will form herds to graze and drink on their own schedules, will sleep through the night as a group, reacting to weather, threats, and the people who feed them. Make your animal pens feel like wild pastures that are truely alive!

Features (so far)

Hunger & thirst — animals seek food and water individually and only eat when hungry; added troughs / chicken feeders to keep large groups fed.

Sleep & shelter — animals sleep during the night, sheltering from the rain, thunder, noisy players and nearby monsters can disturb rest.

Herds — groups follow an alpha, scattering from threats, taking turns as lookouts during the night.

Babies — have a longer growth period and love to play; will nurse from and follow their mother.

Familiarity — hand-feeding the same animal will make it acustom to you.

Pasture life — grazing that wears down grass, dirt that can re-green again, chickens will peck dropped seeds. 

Config — tune each species and comfort options in the server config

Currently included species

Sheep · Cows · Pigs · Chickens

Things to try!

Stock a pen with a trough or chicken feeder and watch a herd settle into a routine

Hand-feed a cow a few times, then walk quietly nearby while it sleeps

Spook a flock and watch them stream away together

Leave seeds for chickens; watch calves nurse when hungry

Wait out a thunderstorm — sleepers wake, and animals hunt for cover

Roadmap

Next update: bringing behaviors to horses, donkeys, and mules. And introducing a richer predator behavior system for wolves and foxes, so hunting pressure makes herds flee, and shelter matter more.

Long-term: bring this ecology to all passive mobs, deepening each species until Minecraft’s animals feel like a living ecosystem.

Requires NeoForge. Feedback appreciated!