Raising farm animals is a big part of Stardew Valley, but it’s something that even seasoned players sometimes have difficulty with. Unlike growing crops, raising farm animals often requires a lot of time, money, and resources. Players need to construct and upgrade new barns and coops, source hay for animal feed, and spend time looking after their animals to get high-quality animal products. Knowing which farm animals are worth raising is incredibly important.

Despite the cost of raising livestock, it’s highly recommended that players start raising farm animals in Year One of Stardew Valley to get the ball rolling. Players can pick eleven different animals from chickens, void chickens, golden chickens, ducks, rabbits, dinosaurs, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and ostriches. Each produces different resources, some of which are more valuable than others.

7 Cat/Dog And Horse

During character creation, players can choose to adopt a farm cat or a dog as an adorable furry friend. While not a farm animal in the strictest sense, players can still care for their cat or dog by filling its water bowl daily and giving it some pets. At first glance, this doesn’t have any obvious benefits beyond a visible heart emoji. However, petting the cat or dog every day raises a hidden friendship meter.

At 1,000 friendship points, players will receive a special message saying their pet loves them. Aside from being incredibly heartwarming, having a loving pet also grants players an extra point during their Grandpa’s evaluation at the start of Year 3. It’s an excellent step players can take to make sure they light all four candles on Grandpa’s Shrine in Stardew Valley.

Players can also ask the local carpenter Robin to build a small stable for 10,000g, 100 Hardwood, and 5 Iron Bars. This unlocks the Horse, which serves as an in-game mount. It doesn’t require special care, but it increases players’ movement speed, making it an essential build.

6 Ducks

Players can buy Ducks from Marnie, the local rancher, once they’ve built a Coop and upgraded it into a Big Coop. Raising Ducks tends to be a better investment than raising Stardew Valley’s basic brown and white Chickens.

Duck Eggs sell for a better price than Chicken Eggs and can be used to make Duck Mayonnaise, an Artisan Good, for up to 525g a bottle with the Artisan Profession. Like Chicken Eggs, players can also incubate Duck Eggs to raise more Ducks.

Ducks can also produce Duck Feathers, a rare animal product. An Iridium-quality Duck Feather sells for 500g (600g with the Rancher Profession), making it a highly valuable resource. It’s also one of the required items for the Dye Bundle, so players will need to offer one to the Junimos to restore the Community Center.

5 Dinosaurs

Getting one of Stardew Valley's Dinosaur Eggs can be tricky, but raising Dinosaurs is well worth the effort. Inside a Big or Deluxe Coop, a Dinosaur will produce a Dinosaur Egg every week. Players can incubate the Dinosaur Egg to raise more Dinosaurs, sell it off for up to 700g, or process it to make Dinosaur Mayonnaise.

Dinosaur Mayonnaise can be sold for 800g (1,120g with the Artisan Profession), making it one of the best items to sell in the game. It’s also a liked gift for everyone except Jas, Vincent, and Sebastian, and players can use it as a potential offering to the Junimos in the Missing Bundle in the Abandoned JojaMart.

Players often need extremely rare items, such as a Prismatic Shard, to complete the Missing Bundle, but Dinosaur Mayonnaise isn’t too hard to make.

4 Rabbit

Many players often consider rabbits the best animal to raise in Stardew Valley. As they produce Wool every four days, they effectively remove the need for players to buy and raise Sheep. Marnie sells Sheep and Rabbits for 8,000g, but Rabbits can produce both Wool and the rare Rabbit’s Foot item, making them a much better investment.

Players can spin Wool into Cloth, which can be sold for 470g (658g with Artisan). It can also be put into the Animal Bundle to help players complete the Community Center’s Pantry area. The Rabbit’s Foot tends to be quite a rare drop but has an excellent selling price.

Rabbits will also produce both Wool and the Rabbit’s Foot when fed, so they don’t need to be outside to produce resources. This is particularly useful in the Winter when farm animals stay indoors.

3 Pig

Pigs forage for Truffles when let out of their Barns, allowing players to collect and sell these rare gourmet mushrooms. Pigs can forage and produce multiple Truffles daily, unlike other farm animals, which only produce resources every other day or every week. Truffles fetch a high price when sold, and they can also be processed into Truffle Oil, an Artisan Good that sells for 1,065g a bottle (1,491g with the Artisan Profession).

Pigs produce resources regularly, making them one of the best animals to have on a Stardew Valley farm. However, they have an unfortunate drawback: they won’t go outside during the Winter and don’t produce any resources for a whole season.

Winter is already a tough season for players, as none of Stardew Valley’s best crops will grow outdoors. It’s recommended that players avoid spending all of their money on Pigs for this reason.

2 Goat

Goats can be purchased from Marnie once players have a Big Barn on their farms. They produce Goat Milk every other day, which has a higher sell value than the Milk players receive from milking Cows. Goat Milk and Large Goat Milk are high-quality animal products on their own, but players can also process them into Goat Cheese and increase their value.

Aside from being the perfect gift for winning the heart of Pelican Town’s artist and sculptor Leah, Goat Cheese also sells for exceptionally high prices. Aging Goat Cheese in a Cask raises its quality, and after two weeks of aging, players are guaranteed to receive Iridium-quality Goat Cheese. With the Artisan Profession, that item sells for an impressive 1,120g.

1 Ostrich

Getting an Ostrich in Stardew Valley isn’t easy, as the Ostrich Egg can only be obtained by visiting Ginger Island. Players will also need to get an Ostrich Incubator by helping out at the Island Field Office. According to the Stardew Valley Wiki, this involves completing all four fossils and the two island surveys at the Field Office, which can be quite challenging.

An Ostrich will lay an Ostrich Egg every seven days, which players can process into Mayonnaise in a Mayonnaise Machine. However, unlike Chicken and Duck Eggs, which only produce one bottle when processed, each Ostrich Egg produces ten bottles of Mayonnaise. With a few Ostriches, players can collect large quantities of high-value Artisan Goods to sell.

Although some animal products are more valuable than others, even basic animals not on this list, such as Chickens, can produce items that novice farmers will find useful. With the dozens of crops available for players to grow across the seasons, it can sometimes be tempting to wait for later seasons to start a Stardew Valley ranch. However, farm animals can be a fantastic source of income when properly cared for.

Source: Stardew Valley Wiki