In Stardew Valley, you can do more than just plant and raise crops. There are many activities that are also really fun and rewarding. One of the things that many players avoid is raising animals.
Though animals can be very expensive, most of them will give you resources every day and will also be a very cute addition to your farm. Still, you probably don’t care that much about the aesthetic of the animals. You care more about the money they can make you.
Recommended Read: Where to Get Iridium in Stardew Valley
Well, there are quite a lot of animal choices in Stardew Valley, but there are some that are just better than others.
The best animals to raise in Stardew Valley are Pigs, Golden Chickens, and Cows. The first two options are the cream of the crop, as they produce insane amounts of money, while the Cow is the easiest animal to take care of and profit off of.
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Best Animals to Raise in Stardew Valley – Most Profitable
The only way we can decide which animals are the best to raise in Stardew Valley is by calculating how much money they make you every day.
There are two things players might consider when they only care about money: profit per day and profit per tile.
Most Barn animals take up a lot of space, which usually makes them relatively bad choices for someone that is obsessed with getting the most out of their land. However, the daily profit from some of these Barn animals can be insane.
If you don’t care about money and profit, then any animal that you like could be the best for you. There aren’t any animals that are “bad,” just unprofitable.
For example, the Dinosaur is the worst animal for profit in Stardew Valley, but are you really not going to get it just because it doesn’t make you Gs?
To make sure you make an educated decision when it comes to what animals you want on your farm and which ones are the best in Stardew Valley, we will go through all of them, from least profitable to most profitable in the game:
10. Dinosaurs
Though the Dinosaur is probably the coolest animal in Stardew Valley, it is the least profitable per day. A happy Dinosaur produces a Dinosaur Egg every 7 days.
With the help of the Artisan profession, you can turn that egg into Dinosaur Mayonnaise which will be worth 1,120 g.
That is the best possible price you can get from the Dinosaur Eggs. 1,120 g every 7 days means you make 160 g every day from a single Dinosaur.
Though this is not an incredible number, it is still better than some crops, and Dinosaurs are awesome. So, don’t let these horrible profit numbers stop you from getting one.
9. Rabbits
Even though Rabbits are very cute, they are a horrible animal for profit.
If you increase your friendship with them to the maximum level, they start having a chance to produce a Rabbit’s Foot instead of Wool. However, the chance is slim.
Rabbits produce resources every 4 days, meaning that you can get around 200 g per day, on average, considering that it can produce both Rabbit’s Feet and Wool.
Due to the low production rate and the fact that there isn’t a way to guarantee that you are going to get the Rabbit’s Foot, you should only get Rabbits on your farm if you want a lot of loved gifts.
The Rabbit’s Foot is a universally loved gift (except for Penny), which you can use to befriend everyone easily.
You can even use it to quickly finish the Qi’s Kindness quest, where you have to give 50 loved gifts in 7 days. So, if you just want to easily befriend everyone in Pelican Town, get some Rabbits and occasionally collect their feet.
8. Ducks
Ducks are a weird animal in Stardew Valley, as they are relatively cheap (1,200 g), and they are actually better if you don’t befriend them.
Yes, if you get max relationship with a Duck, you can get Duck Feathers, but they can actually be worse than Duck Mayonnaise.
You can sell Duck Feather for 500 g at iridium quality. Duck Mayonnaise with the Artisan profession will get you 525 g. So, Ducks with 0 friendship can get you 262 g per day as long as you have the Artisan profession.
Considering the initial purchase price, Ducks can be an amazing way to make money if you have the Big Coop on your farm. Still, Chickens might be a better choice overall if you only care about money.
7. Chickens (Normal, Blue, and Void)
Chickens are the best and most profitable Coop animal in Stardew Valley.
Not only do they produce eggs every day, but they can also give you Large Eggs if you keep them happy and you have a high friendship.
Large Eggs can be turned into gold quality Mayonnaise, which sells for 399 g if you have the Artisan profession. This means that Chickens, white, brown, and blue, will give you a 399 g profit per day if you properly take care of them.
This makes Chickens the best Coop animal, but still worse than most Barn animals. Still, considering the space that Chickens and Coops take, Chickens are the most profitable animals per tile in Stardew Valley.
There are also two different types of Chickens that you can get in Stardew Valley:
- Void Chickens
- Golden Chickens
Golden Chickens will make you a ton of money, so we will talk about them later. Void Chickens are actually worse than normal Chickens, as they can’t produce Large Eggs.
They can give you 385 g per day without actually taking care of their mood and hearts. So, if you don’t like hugging your animals every day, then the best Coop animal for you would be the Void Chickens.
6. Goats
Goats are an interesting animal in Stardew Valley, as they are relatively expensive to get (4,000 g) but are just slightly better than Chickens and worse than Cows.
The way you make money with Goats is that you get their Milk every 2 days, and then you turn it into Goat Cheese. This item sells for 840 g at gold quality, which will be the most common you will get.
So, Goats will get you 420 g profit per day, considering you always get at least gold quality Goat Cheese and you have the Artisan profession.
This is not incredible, as Chickens get you around 400 g, but it could work if you personally like giving Leah and Robin Goat Cheese all the time.
5. Sheep
Sheep are an interesting animal in Stardew Valley, as they have the potential to be the third most profitable animal in the game.
The only problem is that you have to get their special profession, Shepherd, and lose out on Artisan.
Let’s first see what kind of profit the Sheep will make you with the Artisan profession. Sheep with a lot of friendship points will produce Wool once every 2 days.
If they produce quality Wool, there is also a high chance you will get two Cloth when you turn the Wool at the Loom.
Cloth sells for 658 g with the Artisan profession, meaning you can get around 480 g per day if you have high enough friendship with the Sheep.
This number is the reason why we put Sheep here since most people will get the Artisan profession. However, here is the amount of money you can make with the Shepherd profession: around 950 g.
The Shepherd profession makes Sheep give you Wool every day, increasing the daily profit by a lot. However, even with this specialized profession that only helps you with Sheep, it is still not the best animal to raise for profit in Stardew Valley.
4. Cows
Even though Cows get the 4th place overall for profit, many players, including us, consider them the best animals to raise in Stardew Valley. Cows are very easy to raise, the whole money-making process is very simple.
To make money from Cows, you need to get their Milk every day and turn it into Cheese, which takes around 3 hours. If you are really good friends with your Cows, and they are also happy, you can get Large Milk from them.
Large Milk guarantees gold quality Cheese, which means that you can make at least 483 g daily, with the Artisan profession, from a simple Cow.
Considering that a Cow costs 1,500 g at Marnie’s Ranch and that you can get them with a level 1 Barn, this animal is the best since you can use it right from the start of a playthrough.
If you don’t want to think too much about animals and just want a decent daily profit, then the Cows and Chickens are the best animals that you can raise in Stardew Valley.
Considering that Milk and Eggs are used in a lot of recipes, they become even more useful long term.
3. Ostriches
The Ostrich is one of the hardest Barn animals to get in Stardew Valley. The Ginger Island quests that you have to get through to get a single Ostrich Egg is endless.
Since you can’t buy this animal from anywhere, you will also need to continuously use its eggs to get new ones, losing profit along the way.
Still, the Ostrich is still the 3rd most profitable animal in Stardew Valley. The Ostrich produces one Ostrich Egg every 7 days, and that egg can be turned into 10 Mayonnaise at the Mayonnaise Machine.
As opposed to other eggs, the quality of the Mayonnaise will actually be the same as of the Ostrich Egg. This makes these eggs much more valuable than any other. This means that if you have the Artisan profession and manage to get iridium quality Ostrich Eggs, an Ostrich can make you 760 g per day.
This is a huge number considering that you don’t have to compromise on the Artisan profession to get it. The only problem is that you can only use this money-making machine in the late/end game.
2. Golden Chickens
The Golden Chickens are the best profit per tile animal in Stardew Valley.
Though they somehow didn’t manage to get the first place, they produce more than enough money to keep your farm standing for years. Golden Chickens will make you 1197 g per day.
Unfortunately, the only way you can get Golden Chickens is if you manage to get the Perfection ending.
Since you need to be a multi-millionaire by the time you get that ending, the Golden Chickens become relatively useless.
Though the Golden Chickens get the second place in this profitability list, they shouldn’t be considered one of the best animals to raise in Stardew Valley.
1. Pigs
Pigs are the kings of Stardew Valley when it comes to making money.
They will make you millions in just a few days if you have enough of them. Pigs produce Truffles each time they leave the Barn and walk around the farm.
Truffles can then be turned into Truffle Oil, which is worth 1,491 g. Pigs, on average, produce 3 Truffles every day, as long as they are allowed to go outside.
Since they can’t go outside during the Winter and rainy days, you would think that there would be a huge disadvantage to getting Pigs.
Well, on average, the Pigs will get to go outside and produce Truffles 70 out of the 112 days in the year. Winter is only 28 days and it rains around 14 days a year in Stardew Valley.
This means that, on average, a single Pig will produce around 2795 g per day. That is an incredible profit that not even the mighty Golden Chickens can get close to. And the Chickens are only available after the end game!
Still, Pigs cost 16,000 g to get from Marnie’s Ranch. So, make sure to plant the best possible crops and get Pigs as fast as possible to become Pelican Town’s rising star.
That’s everything you need to know about the best animals to raise in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
