[Top 10] Stardew Valley Best Animals

Updated:

28 Mar 2022

[Top 10] Stardew Valley Best Animals

When taking on the role of a Stardew Valley farmer, it’s always good to know what is going to make you the most amount of gold in the shortest amount of time.

The animals on your farm are a good source of gold, but some animals are better money makers than others and this guide will tell you which ones are worth the gold.

10) A Horse

When trying to decide what animals you will introduce to your farm, a horse may seem like a good idea; It will give you a decent speed boost (which certainly helps when you’re dangerously close to 2AM) and as far as looks go, it’s quite cute. But other than getting you back to your farm when you’re in a pinch, a horse doesn’t have any other value for the effort to obtain it.

Horse details:

100 Hardwood (To build the stable)
5 Iron Bars (To build the Stable)
10,000g (To build the Stable)

What makes a Horse great?

A fun and speedy transport system
A stable that is small and looks great on the farm
A cute companion you can travel with

9) Goats

When buying barn animals in Stardew, Goats are the second animal you can purchase after upgrading a barn to a big barn. A goat will produce goat milk every other day using a pail and will start by giving you small jugs of Goat Milk, but if you give your beloved goats a bit of daily TLC, the size and quality of the milk will increase over time.

While this seems like a pretty good source of gold, the base value of a small jug of goat milk is 270g and at 4,000g per goat, it would take an entire season to even start making your gold back. So, to sum it up, only buy a goat if you really like goats.

Goat details:

4,000g per Goat
Big Barn upgrade is required for purchase
12,000g (To build the Big Barn)
Goats need a piece of hay each day to produce Goat milk

What makes the Goat great?

225g per Goat milk (Base value)
400g per goat cheese (Can be made with a cheese press)

8) Chickens

When building your animal empire, chickens might be the first purchase you ever make. So, at 800g each, they won’t put you too much behind with money and they start laying eggs after just a few days.

When selling the eggs, they sell for 60g each (whilst at basic value) and they are laid every morning which means it would take you, at most, 14 days to get that 800g back.

Chicken details:

800g per chicken
Chickens need a piece of hay each day
A Coop (4,000g)
Chickens need to be petted once a day to lay eggs

What makes a Chicken great?

Eggs Daily (can be made into mayo)
60g per egg (at base value)
They’re Cheap

7) Sheep

Sheep in Stardew are only useful for one thing, wool. A single piece of wool will sell for 340g at the base value and at 8,000g per sheep, you would be waiting a while before making your gold back.

If you fancy yourself a bit of a farming fashionista wool does have an advantage. Wool can be spun into cloth and then the cloth combined with other items will make unique clothing pieces, you could then match your handmade garments with hats that you can buy from the Mouse!

Sheep details:

8,000g per Sheep
Shears are required (for collecting wool)
Sheep need a piece of hay each day
A deluxe Barn is required (8,000g)

What makes a Sheep great?

340g per piece of wool sold (base value)
470g per piece of cloth sold

6) Rabbits

Like sheep, Rabbits give you wool but thankfully, you don’t need the shears to get it. Rabbits shed wool every four days and occasionally you will find a lucky rabbit’s foot. At the same price as Sheep, Rabbits are only a little more valuable because of the occasional rabbit foot.

So, if money isn’t your main concern in Stardew Valley, then the wholesome aesthetic of a rabbit would be a cute addition to your farm.

Rabbit details:

8,000g per Rabbit
A deluxe coop is required (8,000g)
Rabbits need a piece of hay each day

What makes a Rabbit great?

565g per rabbit foot sold
340g per piece of wool sold
470g per piece of cloth sold

5) Cows

Cows, similarly to goats, provide milk that you can sell and turn into cheese. Unlike goats though, cows provide a jug of milk each and every day. Cows are a cheaper option than their short-haired counterpart and the milk from cows sell for 125g (Base value) so, it would only take 12 days to earn your gold back. They are absolutely worth the easy 1,500g you pay for each one.

Cow details:

1,500g per Cow
Can be milked daily
Needs a piece of hay each day

What makes the Cow great?

Get (at least) a small jug of milk every day
125g per small jug of milk sold (at base value)
230g per piece of cheese (at base value)

4) Void Chicken

The demonic-looking cousin to the chicken is in fact called, a void chicken. Void chickens are ordinary chickens cursed by a scorned witch, hell hath no fury and all that, and the eggs that these gothic chickens lay are black with red spots.

Void eggs are laid every day, just like regular chickens. Several of these guys would definitely be a worthy investment, especially as you make gold right away as you spend nothing but time to get them. (Known as The Witch Event)

Void Chicken details:

They are regular chickens but cursed
Need petting daily (for egg laying)
Needs a piece of hay each day (for egg laying)

What makes a Void Chicken great?

Daily void eggs (can be turned into void mayonnaise)
65g per egg
275g per void mayonnaise

3) Ducks

Ducks are the elegant cousin of the chicken and in the 1.5 update, they can swim! The cost of elegance however is 4,000g which is 5 times more than that of the chicken (800g) but, as a rabbit does, a duck drops its own special item, an occasional duck feather. Just like chickens, ducks can lay duck eggs which can be turned into duck mayonnaise via the mayonnaise machine.

At base value, a duck egg will sell for 95g but if turned into duck mayonnaise, each regular quality jar will bring back 375g. This means that so far in this list, a duck will give the quickest turnaround for a profit at just 10 days.

Duck Details:

4,000g per Duck
A big coop (10,000g)
A piece of hay a day (For regular egg production)
Petting daily (For regular egg production)

What makes a Duck great?

95g per Duck egg sold (lays every 2 days)
375g per jar of Duck mayonnaise sold
250g per duck feather sold

2) Dinosaurs

Before you start thinking about a T-Rex or Triceratops, this isn’t ARK and these cute reptiles aren’t a threat. To raise your very own dinosaur, you need to have a little bit of luck and patience. First, you need to find a dinosaur egg and you can do that by digging up an artifact spot (Three worms on the ground), opening a fishing treasure chest, slaying a Pepper rex (Daddy dino), and catching one in the claw game.

After finding one, you’ll have to put it in the incubator in the Big Coop and wait 12 days for it to hatch. After waiting all that time, you’ll have hatched your very own dinosaur! A dinosaur lays a dinosaur egg every 7 days and if you sell that egg, it will get you 350g. If you put the dinosaur egg into the mayonnaise machine, each jar of dinosaur mayonnaise will sell for 800g so it’s safe to say that a dinosaur is worth the time and effort it takes to acquire them.

Dinosaur details:

Needs petting daily (For egg production)
Needs a piece of hay a day (For egg production)
Needs a Big coop (10,000g)

What makes the Dinosaur great?

350g per dinosaur egg sold (At base value)
800g per dinosaur mayonnaise sold (At base value)
Doesn’t cost money to get

1) Pigs

Finally, we get to the pigs. Despite their bulky posterior, pigs are a must-have on your farm. They may not be the best-looking animal to own, but these special pigs are excellent at sniffing out truffles and truffles are key for making lots of money.

At 16,000g they may not seem like the most cost-efficient investment but by the time you can afford one, you should have the Gatherer profession (20% chance of double harvest) in the foraging skill. Selling a single truffle comes in at 625g, giving you 25 days to make back your money, but with the Gatherer profession, you have the possibility to do it in 13 days.

If you use your time wisely in winter, you could use the month to max out your foraging skill which would further benefit the profit in these pigs. If you reach level 10 (Max level) in foraging, you can unlock the botanist profession and that means that every item you forage is always iridium quality.

How does it help with the pigs? Well, as truffle is a foraged item, it would always be iridium quality meaning you could easily earn 1,250g per harvested truffle, you could earn your 16,000g back in just 7 days. The efficiency of a pig is what makes it the best animal to own in Stardew Valley, making you a very rich farmer in no time!