How to Shear a Sheep on Minecraft

Last Updated: March 11, 2021

Sheep are a useful passive mob in Minecraft. Not only do they provide meat and experience points, they provide valuable wool too. This helpful block can be used to craft beds and other decorative items. The most efficient way to harvest the wool from sheep is by using shears. It can be tricky figuring out how to craft shears and use them on sheep. But once you learn how to utilize iron ingots to make this tool, and how to actually shear sheep, it gets easier.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:
Making Shears

1
Mine iron ore. Iron ore can be found from Y-levels 0 to 63^{[1]
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Research source}, it appears as the stone texture with bits of grayish beige in it. You can find iron ore in caves and by just mining down. To mine iron ore, you will need a stone pickaxe or better. Make sure to get at least 2 pieces of iron ore, this is the minimum needed for making shears.
2
Make a crafting table. Chop down a tree to get at least 1 wood log. Open your inventory and use the 2x2 crafting space to turn the log into wooden planks. Then, fill every spot in the 2x2 crafting space with a wooden plank.
- The wood type doesn't matter, they will all make the same crafting table.
3
Craft a furnace. Mine 8 cobblestone with a wooden pickaxe or better, then open a crafting table and fill every spot except the middle with a block of cobblestone.
4
Smelt the iron ore. Open the furnace using the 'use' button or by tapping on it. Place the iron ore in the top slot on the interface, and fuel like coal or wood in the bottom slot. Wait for a while until the ore smelts and iron ingots come out in the slot on the right.
- Using a blast furnace will speed up the smelting process.
5
Craft the shears. Open a crafting table or your inventory crafting space. Place 2 iron ingots in the crafting space so they are diagonal to each other^{[2]
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Research source}.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:
Shearing Sheep

1
Find a sheep. During world generation, sheep will spawn on surface grass blocks with a light level of 7 or higher. After world generation, they will spawn in grassy biomes, like plains. Sheep may also spawn in villages^{[3]
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Research source}.
2
Shear your sheep. Hold the shears in your hand and press the 'use' button or tap the sheep. This will give you 1-3 wool blocks of the color the sheep is.
3
Wait for the sheep to eat. When a sheep eats, its wool grows back, allowing you to shear it again^{[4]
X
Research source}. For this to happen, they have to be standing on a grass block. The sheep will lower their head to eat it, a block breaking sound will be heard, and the grass block will turn into a dirt block. The sheep's wool should now be back and ready to shear.