Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley: Best Livestock for Making Money

Posted on Jun 23, 2023 by justin

Stardew Valley has a variety of animals you can place and care for on your farm. Some of these farm animals can also help you produce sellable goods, with some making much more than others. With that in mind, here we'll rank the best livestock in Stardew Valley for making money and improving your farm.

Ranking the Best Livestock in Stardew Valley

Note that the following list disregards animals that don’t produce sellable goods, which includes the horse, crow, cat, and dog.

#5 - Cow

Cows in Stardew Valley produce milk daily. If you build a friendship with the cows in your barn, these animals will produce large milk, a more expensive variant than the game’s regular milk. Although Goat’s Milk produces more gold pieces than Cow’s Milk, the latter is more lucrative because of the daily production. Plus, you can add to your farm's productivity by placing milk in a Cheese Press to produce Cheese, which sells for additional gold pieces.

How to Obtain

You can purchase a cow from Marnie’s Ranch for 1,500 gold pieces. Stardew Valley’s cows come in two colors: brown and white. Note that the game chooses these colors randomly, and you have no control over which color to select.

Sellable Goods

Milk

Base tier: 125 gold pieces
Silver tier: 156 gold pieces
Gold tier: 187 gold pieces
Iridium tier: 250 gold pieces

Large Milk

Base tier: 190 gold pieces
Silver tier: 237 gold pieces
Gold tier: 295 gold pieces
Iridium tier: 380 gold pieces

#4 - Dinosaur

The Dinosaur is one of the game’s rarest livestock. Particularly, its egg, which is a random find in the game. So, some players may find one after a few hours of playing the game, while others may not be so lucky. Players can sell Dinosaur eggs for a good amount of money. However, the creature requires seven days to produce one egg. Although the money acquired from selling the egg will help increase your farm’s return on investment (ROI), players shouldn’t disregard other money-making methods in the game which may be more impactful in the meantime. Tip: Place a Dinosaur Egg in a Mayonnaise Machine to produce Dinosaur Mayonnaise. Sell the Dinosaur Mayonnaise for more money than a regular Dinosaur Egg.

How to Obtain

You can hatch a Dinosaur from a Dinosaur Egg, which you can obtain as a random find by doing any of the following tasks:

Digging it from an Artifact Spot in The Mountains and Quarry
Achieving Fishing Level 2 and opening it in a Treasure Chest from fishing
Obtaining it as a random drop after defeating a Pepper Rex in the Skull Cavern
Foraging for it in the Prehistoric Floors of the Skull Cavern
Winning it as a prize in the Crane Game in the Movie Theater

Once obtained, place the Dragon Egg in an incubator in a Big or Deluxe Coop. The egg will hatch as a tame Dinosaur after 12 in-game days of incubation.

Sellable Goods

Dinosaur Egg

Base tier: 350 gold pieces
Silver tier: 437 gold pieces
Gold tier: 525 gold pieces
Iridium tier: 700 gold pieces

#3 - Golden Chicken

Another rare livestock, the Golden Chicken, can be a reward for a player’s hard work. Alternatively, you must be extremely lucky to get the Golden Egg that’ll hatch into a Golden Chicken by sheer RNG luck. Nonetheless, a Golden Chicken produces 1x Golden Egg daily, making it one of the most lucrative livestock in Stardew Valley.

How to Obtain

You can hatch a Golden Chicken by placing a Golden Egg in an incubator. Acquire a Golden Egg by completing one of the following objectives:

Buy it from Marnie’s Ranch for 100,000 gold pieces
Buy it from Qi’s Walnut Room for 100 Qi Gems
Fish and open a Treasure Chest
Obtain from a random event wherein a golden witch flies over the Coop while you’re asleep

After acquiring a Golden Egg, place it in an incubator in a Big or Deluxe Coop. Next, wait for the egg to hatch for six in-game days (only three days if you have the Coopmaster Profession).

Sellable Goods

Golden Egg

Base tier: 500 gold pieces
Silver tier: 625 gold pieces
Gold tier: 750 gold pieces
Iridium tier: 1,000 gold pieces

Note: All Golden Egg selling prices increase by 20% with the Rancher Profession. Also, putting 1x Golden Egg in a Mayonnaise Machine produces 3x Mayonnaise. Selling the 3x Mayonnaise yields more gold pieces than 1x Golden Egg when sold.

#2 - Ostrich

Introduced in version 1.5, the Ostrich is a barn animal in Stardew Valley, and it’ll produce an Ostrich Egg once a week. Despite its rarity, an Ostrich can lay eggs that fetch a fairly hefty amount of money.

How to Obtain

Initially, you can find an Ostrich Egg on Ginger Island after finding Journal Scrap #10. Once you find this item, dig outside the Volcano Dungeon’s entrance to find the egg. Place the Ostrich Egg in an Ostrich Incubator for 9 in-game days and 10 hours (4 in-game days and 18 hours with the Coopmaster Profession) to hatch it. Alternatively, you may find an Ostrich Egg in one of the chests in the Volcano Dungeon.

Sellable Goods

Ostrich Egg

Base tier: 600 gold pieces
Silver tier: 750 gold pieces
Gold tier: 900 gold pieces
Iridium tier: 1,200 gold pieces

Tip: Placing 1x Ostrich Egg in a Mayonnaise Machine yields 10x Mayonnaise with the same quality as the egg. Selling all ten mayonnaise jars will yield more money than vending off a single Ostrich Egg.

#1 - Pig

Generating income from pigs in the game differs from some other livestock in Stardew Valley that only requires them to be happy and well-fed to produce. Instead, you must release a Pig outside the barn for the animal to find Truffles during the right seasons. Next, sell these items for a massive amount of money.

How to Obtain

You can purchase a Pig from Marnie’s Ranch for 16,000 gold pieces. Place two pigs in one barn for a chance to reproduce. Alternatively, you can purchase additional pigs from Marnie’s Ranch to add to your barn.