Rust Farming Tools
Food Guide
Food stats, animal harvest yields, warming & cooling teas, wheat farming and chicken coop setup — all in one place.
Raw meat causes vomiting and deals slight damage. Always cook before eating. Since the March 2025 Crafting Update, raw meat spoils in 6 hours and cooked meat in 24 hours outside a powered fridge (5W).
Meat — raw vs cooked
| Food | Calories | Hydration | Health | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Bear Meatraw | 10 | +3 | damage | Causes vomiting — do not eat raw |
| Cooked Bear Meatcooked | 100 | +1 | +small heal | Best calorie-to-effort ratio of all meats |
| Raw Porkraw | 10 | — | damage | Do not eat raw |
| Cooked Porkcooked | 60 | +1 | +5 over time | Easy to farm from boars; modest stats but plentiful |
| Raw Deer Meatraw | 10 | — | damage | Do not eat raw |
| Cooked Deer Meatcooked | 40 | +3 | +10 over time | Deer are fast but low threat — best healing tick of the meats |
| Raw Wolf Meatraw | 10 | — | damage | Do not eat raw |
| Cooked Wolf Meatcooked | 60 | +1 | +5 over time | Risky kill for the same return as boar — usually skip |
| Raw Chicken Breastraw | 10 | — | damage | Do not eat raw |
| Cooked Chickencooked | 40 | +3 | +10 over time | Low calories — best used in pie recipes |
| Raw Fishraw | 10 | — | damage | Do not eat raw |
| Cooked Fishcooked | 60 | +15 | +5 over time | Huge hydration value — best fluid food |
Plants & gathered food
| Food | Calories | Hydration | Health | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatnew 2025 | 75 | +10 | +6 | Found near rivers, farmable. Best used in pie recipes |
| Eggnew 2025 | 40 | +15 | +2 | From wild chickens or coop. Save for pie recipes |
| Jar of Honeynew 2025 | 50 | — | +3 | −15 radiation. From beehives. Used in Apple Pie |
| Pumpkinfarmable | 80 | +30 | +8 over time | Big hydration boost. Farmable. Used in Pumpkin Pie |
| Cornfarmable | 50 | +3 | +3 | Easy to farm, used in Chicken Pie recipe |
| Potatofarmable | 40 | +2 | +1 | Used in several pie recipes. Easy to grow in bulk |
| Mushroom | 10 | +5 | +3 | Found in forests. Used in Hunter's, Fish and Survivor's pie |
| Apple | 15 | +5 | +2 | Only in food crates — rare. Needed for Apple Pie |
| Can of Beans | 50 | +10 | +5 | Found in crates, no cooking needed |
| Can of Tuna | 50 | +10 | +5 | Found in crates, no cooking needed |
| Chocolate Bar | 40 | +5 | +5 | Provides comfort — helps passive health regen |
Spoilage reminder: Raw meat spoils in 6 hours, cooked meat in 24 hours. A powered Electric Fridge (5W) stops the spoilage timer while food is inside. Spoiled food still provides calories but causes poisoning.
Use a Bone Knife or Hatchet for maximum yield when harvesting. Yields below are maximum values with optimal tool. A Survivor's Pie (admin-only) gives +150% corpse yield for 5 min.
Bear
400 HP · Forest & Arctic
Raw Bear Meat19×
Animal Fat100×
Leather100×
Cloth50×
Bone Fragments150×
Best source of animal fat in the game. Needs a firearm — very dangerous.
Wolf
100 HP · All biomes
Raw Wolf Meat5×
Animal Fat10×
Leather75×
Cloth35×
Bone Fragments40×
Aggressive at 3m. Best for leather. Low food value for the danger.
Boar
~80 HP · Temperate
Raw Pork8×
Animal Fat40×
Leather20×
Cloth10×
Bone Fragments50×
Best early-game food source. Easy to kill even with rock. Flees first.
Deer (Stag)
~80 HP · Temperate
Raw Deer Meat4–5×
Animal Fat10×
Leather50×
Cloth25×
Bone Fragments50×
Runs away — best killed with bow. Good leather source.
Chicken
25 HP · Forest
Raw Chicken Breast2×
Cloth6×
Bone Fragments12×
One hatchet hit kills. Chase for eggs before killing. Worth more alive in a coop.
Horse
~400 HP · Desert
Raw Horse Meat5×
Animal Fat10×
Leather50×
Cloth25×
Bone Fragments50×
Keep alive as transport — barely profitable to kill.
About Wheat
Wheat was added in the March 2025 Crafting Update. It grows near rivers across the map like Corn, and can be picked up to receive both the wheat and a seed. You can farm it in planter boxes like other crops — it can also be cloned from seeds for faster production.
Eaten raw, wheat gives +6 healing, +75 calories and +10 hydration — good stats for a raw food. However its real value is as an ingredient — wheat is required in almost every pie recipe, making it one of the most important crops to farm alongside berries.
It also works as fish bait (bait value 1) and as horse food. A Bread Loaf can be crafted from 5 wheat at a Cooking Workbench — it doesn't spoil and gives a solid calorie source to keep in your base.
Eaten raw, wheat gives +6 healing, +75 calories and +10 hydration — good stats for a raw food. However its real value is as an ingredient — wheat is required in almost every pie recipe, making it one of the most important crops to farm alongside berries.
It also works as fish bait (bait value 1) and as horse food. A Bread Loaf can be crafted from 5 wheat at a Cooking Workbench — it doesn't spoil and gives a solid calorie source to keep in your base.
Farming wheat
Wheat uses the same farming system as all other crops — plant seeds in a Large Planter Box, keep it watered and lit. Good genes (GYYYYY or similar) will maximise yield and clones per harvest.
How much do you need? Every pie recipe uses 3 Wheat. If you're baking pies regularly, aim to have at least one full planter of wheat seeds running alongside your berry farm.
How much do you need? Every pie recipe uses 3 Wheat. If you're baking pies regularly, aim to have at least one full planter of wheat seeds running alongside your berry farm.
Wheat quick stats
Calories (raw)+75
Hydration (raw)+10
Healing (raw)+6
SpoilsYes — use fridge
Fish bait value1
FarmableYes — seeds + clones
Found wildNear rivers
Used in piesAll pies (3× each)
Bread Loaf
Recipe5× Wheat
Crafted atCooking Workbench
Does it spoil?No
Horse bonus+250% dung output
Added in the March 2025 Crafting Update. Chicken coops let you produce a reliable supply of eggs for pie recipes. Every pie needs eggs — without a coop you're relying on chasing wild chickens.
Getting started
Step by step
01
Find your first egg. Chase a wild chicken in a field — they drop an egg approximately every minute while a player is nearby. This is the hardest part. You can also trade another player for one.
02
Build a Chicken Coop. Research or find the blueprint. The coop is roughly 1 foundation square — plan the space before placing walls around it. Place it outside with access to sunlight.
03
Hatch your first chicken. Place the egg in the coop's Controls section and press the Hatch button. Takes 120 seconds. The chicken hatches with random stats and a British name.
04
Keep it happy. Fill the food slot, use Give/Take to add water (max 1000ml), and pet the chicken occasionally to top up the Love bar. Neglected chickens produce fewer eggs and eventually die.
05
Collect eggs. Eggs go into the Production output box. It holds a maximum of 20 eggs — check regularly or production halts when it's full.
Production facts
Hatch time120 seconds
Egg rate (healthy)~1 per 2 min
Max egg output box20 eggs
Water capacity1000 ml
Max chickens per coop4
Can be butcheredYes — for meat
If coop destroyedChickens disappear
Egg uses
Eat raw+40 cal, +15 hyd, +2 HP
Hatch a chickenPlace in coop
All pie recipes3× egg each
Horse foodEfficient horse feed
The 4 chicken stats
Hunger
Fill the food slot in the coop. Most foods work — corn, wheat and vegetables are good options.
Thirst
Use the Give button to transfer water into the coop. Max 1000ml. Refill regularly.
Love
Pet the chicken by interacting with it. Each pet raises the Love bar. Can't pet while sleeping.
Sunlight
Place the coop outdoors. Sunlight is assigned at birth — chickens in caves lose sunlight over 24hrs. Can't be changed with lights.
Tip on sunlight: Sunlight is a fixed stat assigned when the chicken hatches and can't be boosted with ceiling lights. If a newly hatched chicken has poor sunlight stats, the quickest fix is to butcher it and hatch a new one. Chickens placed outdoors in open areas will naturally improve their sunlight stat over time.