[Top 10] Stardew Valley Best Animals for Money

Updated:

14 Dec 2022

There are so many cute animals in Stardew Valley, and while each has its uses, here’s a little guide to which ones I think are the best to get to make some profit.

10. Void chicken

Stardew Valley Void Chickens Roaming the Coop

Void Chickens are mysterious creatures—they can first be obtained only by a random event where a witch flies over your Coop at night, but only if it’s the Big Coop. You can also buy the egg from Krobus for 5,000g.

What makes Void Chickens great for money?

While the egg itself doesn’t sell for much, you can turn it into mayonnaise, which sells for 275g.
You can (and most likely will) get your first egg for free, meaning you’ll only ever be making profit instead of losing any.
Eggs will be produced daily, so your profit will be consistent.

Void Chicken details

The Void Egg event will only be activated if you already have a Big Coop, so don’t worry about missed opportunities

9. Cow

Stardew Valley Cows Roaming the Barn

Cows are one of the first animals you can (and most likely will) buy. Aside from the chickens for the coop, the cows for the barns are the cheapest option and the first animal unlocked. They come in either brown or white and can be bought for 6,000g.

What makes Cows great for money?

Cows produce milk every day, so you’ll always have something to sell.
When cared for enough, they’ll start producing large milk, which sells for more.
Their milk can be made into cheese, which starts selling for 230g.

Cow details

Cows live in the barns.
They can reproduce once you upgrade your barn enough.
To milk them, you’ll have to purchase a pail.

8. Dinosaur

Stardew Valley Dinosaurs Roaming Outside

Dinosaurs are adorable and unusual pets to keep, but they’re available all the same. They can’t be bought directly and must be hatched from an egg. Dinosaur eggs can be obtained in a variety of ways, including by digging up an artifact, finding one in a treasure chest, or winning one in the crane game at the movie theater—to name a few.

What makes Dinosaurs great for money?

Dinosaur eggs sell for at least 350g.
Dinosaur eggs can be turned into dinosaur mayonnaise, which can be sold for at least 800g.
You’ll get your first egg for free, meaning you can only profit from them.

Dinosaur details

Dinosaurs mature after twelve nights.
Dinosaurs produce eggs every seven days instead of every day.
Dinosaur eggs can be used to make a dinosaur hat.

7. Ducks

Stardew Valley Duck Swimming In Pond

Ducks are bought from Marnie’s Ranch for 1,200g. They can also be found as Duck Eggs in the traveling merchant cart, sometimes for cheaper and can be hatched in an incubator. They produce multiple items, making them quite useful.

What makes Ducks great for money?

Duck eggs sell for 95
Duck eggs can be turned into duck mayonnaise that sells for at least 375
When friendship is high enough, ducks can produce duck feathers, which sell for at least 250

Duck details

Duck eggs take about sixnights to hatch.
Ducks mature after two nights.
Ducks produce eggs every two days.
Ducks actually swim in nearby ponds on the farm!

6. Goat

Stardew Valley Goats Roaming Outside

Goats can be purchased from Marnie’s Ranch for 4,000g. Though it’s quite expensive, it doesn’t take a terribly long time to earn that money back and then profit off of it. It also helps that the goats can reproduce.

What makes Goats great for money?

Goat milk sells for 225g at the small size.
Goat milk sells for 345g at the large size.
Goat milk can be turned into cheese, which sells for at least 400g.

Goat details

Goats produce milk every two days.
The milk must be collected with a milk pail.

5. Sheep

Stardew Valley Sheep Roaming Outside

Sheep can be bought from Marnie’s Ranch for 8,000g.They produce wool, and while they already sell for a nice daily price, the wool can be turned into cloth, which you can either sell for more or use to make clothes. They’re very useful animals!

What makes Sheep great for money?

Sheep’s wool sells for at least 340g.
The wool can be turned into cloth, which sells for 750g.
Quality sheep wool has a chance to produce two cloths instead of one.

Sheep details

Sheep mature after fournights.
Sheep can reproduce.

4. Golden Chicken

Stardew Valley Golden Chickens Roaming Outside

The golden chicken is a fancy little animal, and owning one at all is a good way to feel rich. They can be obtained by placing a Golden Egg into an incubator. The Golden Egg can be obtained by achieving ‘perfection’ which can be tracked in Mister Qi’s room. You’ll then have to buy it from Marnie for 100,000g, Qi for 100 Qi Gems, or obtain it from a random event.

What makes Golden Chickens great for money?

The base price for selling a Golden Egg is 500g.
Golden eggs placed into the Mayonnaise Machine will produce 3 gold quality mayonnaise at a time.
Gold quality mayonnaise sells for 750g.

Golden Chicken details

The egg takes about six nights to hatch.
Eggs are produced once a day.
Golden Chickens mature after three nights.

3. Rabbit

Stardew Valley Rabbits Roaming the Barn

Rabbits can be bought from Marnie for 8,000g. They produce both wool and rabbit’s feet, which both sell for a good amount, and, like mentioned before, the wool can be used to make cloth as well.

What makes Rabbits great for money?

Rabbits can produce wool, which sells for 340g.
The wool can be turned into cloth, which sells for 470g.
Rabbits can also produce a rabbit’s foot, which sells for 565g.

Rabbit details

Rabbits live in the Deluxe Barn.
They, unfortunately, cannot reproduce, so you’d have to buy another one each time.
Unlike most of the other animals, the rabbit’s actually come in either male or female.

2. Ostrich

Stardew Valley Ostrich Roaming the Barn

Ostriches are odd animals to own, but they live in barns and can be obtained by putting an Ostrich Egg specifically into an Ostrich Incubator, rather than a regular one. The eggs can be found by solving one of the journal scraps or as a random drop in the Volcano Dungeon.

What makes Ostriches great for money?

Ostrich Eggs sell for at least 600g.
Selling the Ostrich itself can get you up to 20,800g.
The eggs can be turned into mayonnaise, and the machine will give you ten of the same-quality mayonnaise as the egg.

Ostrich details

Ostriches mature after seven nights and can then start producing.
It takes about ten nights for the eggs to incubate and hatch.

1. Pig

Stardew Valley Pigs Roaming Outside

Pigs are one of the most useful and profitable animals to own. They can be purchased from Marnie for 16,000g, but they can reproduce, so in the end it will be very worth it. They produce truffles, which sell for a great amount on their own, but the truffles can be turned into oil, which can be used in many good recipes.

What makes Pigs great for money?

Pigs produce truffles, which sell at a base price for 625g.
There’s a chance to get multiple truffles a day from each pig, which doubles your profit.
Truffles can be turned into truffle oil, which sells for at least 1,065g.

Pig details

To produce, pigs must be let outside so they can dig up the truffles.
Pigs produce truffles no matter the friendship level, but the higher the friendship, the better the chance they produce more than one.
Pigs stay in the Deluxe Barn.