Stardew Valley Barn Guide

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Callum Marshall

Callum is the gaming managing editor and a certified Stardew Valley aficionado, pouring hundreds if not thousands of hours into this relaxing indie title. While overseeing the day-to-day running of the site, you'll commonly see Callum carve out some time to produce some content on one of his favorite games of all time, and lead from the front. Callum has been around the block within the gaming industry, working as an Editor-in-chief for a number of well-respected gaming outlets, he has worked as a games tester, he has gaming podcast experience, has worked in gaming PR. Basically, you name it, and Callum was probably there or somewhere on the periphery.

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Stardew Valley, in a nutshell, could be described as a very simple game with a lot of moving parts. You can play this game casually and just go with the flow, or you could be like me and genuinely consider breaking out spreadsheets to optimize your time in Pelican Town.

That’s the beauty of this game; it gives you the freedom to approach it however you like. If you want to be a farmer that focuses solely on crops, you can do that. If you want to go through an entire playthrough and never spend any money at all, you can also do that. If you want to become a master adventurer and make it your goal to slay all the monsters in the land, you can do that.

Or, if you want to fill your farm with an abundance of cute little critters, you are invited to do so, provided Marnie is actually tending her shop. Today, we are focusing on the latter.

This game has two structures that are required to house and raise animals on your farm. The first of these structures that players will often purchase is the Coop. If you want to know more about this aspect of raising livestock, you should check out my Stardew Valley Coop Guide.

However, after you build a Coop, the chances are that you will build yourself a Barn. This is a larger building that is used to house the larger animals on offer in this game, such as Cows, Goats, Pigs, and more. It’s a Stardew Valley essential and one that you should add to your farm as soon as you can.

However, you may be wondering why this farm building is considered so essential, what features it offers, how to acquire this building and what offer animals this building can home. Well, we aim to provide all this info and more, allowing you to create the ultimate farm layout that suits your tastes. So without further delay, here is our comprehensive Stardew Valley Barn Guide.

What is a Barn in Stardew Valley?

A Barn in Stardew Valley is a Farm Building that serves as a home to the larger variety of animals the game has to offer. Much like a coop, the player can build, place and then add animals to their structure and this can hold either four, eight, or twelve animals depending on which type of Barn you have access to. Here is a rundown of each Barn on offer and how they differ from one another:

Standard Barn

• Cost: 6,000G
• Requirements: 350 Wood, 150 Stone
• Animal Capacity: Four
• Features: Feeding Bench, Hay Dispenser

Large Barn

• Cost: 12,000G
• Requirements: 450 Wood, 200 Stone
• Animal Capacity: Eight
• Features: Can Breed Animals

Deluxe Barn

• Cost: 25,000G
• Requirements: 550 Wood, 300 Stone
• Animal Capacity: Twelve
• Features: Auto Feeder

What Animals Can You Add to Your Barn?

The first question that any animal lover playing this game will ask is, what animals can I put in my Barn? Well, this depends on what quality of Barn you have at your disposal, but the good news is that regardless of whether you have a Standard Barn or five Deluxe Barns on your property, you’ll still be able to load up on some cute creatures for your farm. Here is a rundown of each Barn Animal the game has to offer:

Cow

Cost: 1,500G

Requirements: Standard Barn

Produces: Milk, Large Milk

Let’s begin with Cows, arguably the cutest of all the barn animals. As my wife says, ‘they are just big dogs,’ but I digress. These animals are key to your Stardew Valley progression for a number of reasons. They produce Milk and Large Milk, which are needed to complete bundles within the Community Center.

You can only obtain this with the use of a Milk Pail, purchased in Marnies Ranch. They allow you to produce Cheese which can be a great money maker, especially if matured in the Cellar. Plus, these are inevitably the first barn animals you will purchase, so they serve as a means of teaching you how to care for all future Barnyard arrivals. Cows are vital in Stardew Valley and mark the beginning of your barnyard journey.

Goat

Cost: 4,000G

Requirements: Large Barn

Produces: Goat‘s Milk, Large Goat Milk

Goats are the Barn Animals that mark the step up to the higher quality Barns in the game. These are the only new animals that players gain access to when they build a Large Barn, but this shouldn’t discourage you as they too are vitally important. Goats produce Goats Milk and Large Goat Milk that is needed for a Community Center bundle, and they also allow the player to make Goats Cheese which is a more profitable dairy product than Cheese made with Cow’s Milk. You can only obtain Goat Milk with the use of a Milk Pail, much like with the cow. Overall, a necessary stepping stone on the way to more luxury animals.

Sheep

Cost: 8,000G

Requirements: Deluxe Barn

Produces: Wool

Now we move onto Sheep, an animal that quite frankly feels a little unnecessary, especially when players gain access to Rabbits via the Deluxe Coop. This animal is the quickest way to gain access to Wool, which in turn is the quickest way to gain access to cloth.

These items allow the player to complete bundles, create garments with the Sewing Machine, and can also help turn a tidy profit. However, when you take into account that a Rabbit produces wool and also has the chance of producing a rare item called a Rabbits Foot, you soon realize that keeping Sheep just isn’t that worthwhile. However, we suggest you get one or two in the early game at least.

Pig

Cost: 16,000

Requirements: Deluxe Barn

Produces: Truffle

The Pig represents the pinnacle of Barnyard animals, in our opinion. A Pig in Stardew Valley, when let outside to wander, will tread along the ground and gradually dig up rare truffles. These are luxury items and fetch quite a handsome price on their own.

However, when you place these in an Oil Maker, you can create Truffle Oil, another luxury item that can be sold for up to 1,491G. So, as you might have gathered, it literally pays to have a drove of Pigs on your farm.

Ostrich

Cost: N/A

Requirements: Acess to Ginger Island, Standard Barn

Produces: Ostrich Egg

Then lastly, we have the Ostrich, a very unconventional farmyard animal but one that can be very profitable indeed. Technically, players can add this Animal to their farm layout as soon as they buy their first Standard Barn. However, the caveat of this is that players can only acquire an Ostrich Egg from Ginger Island and will also need an Ostrich Incubator to allow for Breeding/incubation.

These animals, when fully grown, begin producing Ostrich Eggs of their own, and these can be incubated to produce more Ostriches or sold for up to 1,440G each. This may be an animal that proves elusive for most of the game, but when you get one, you’ll soon see how beneficial they can be.

How to Get a Barn in Stardew Valley

So now that you know what the Barn has to offer and what cute animals you can add to your farm, you’ll want to know how you build a barn. Well, we wouldn’t leave you in the dark on that one. So here is a quick rundown on how to build your first Barn below:

Step one: Gather Resources

Firstly, you will have to gather the necessary resources to build the Barn, but thankfully you won’t have to acquire anything that isn’t available in abundance. All you need is a healthy supply of both stone and wood. To get wood, you’ll need to set aside a good portion of the day to chop trees and gather up to 350 pieces.

Trees usually give out about seventeen to twenty pieces of wood, so you’ll need to cut down at least 18-20 trees. Then as for stone, the best way to accumulate these is to hit the mines and mine rocks. The best rocks to mine are the large boulders that give ten stones per boulder.

Step Two: Clear Space

After you have all the necessary materials, you’ll need to make sure you have space on your farm to place a Barn. As you tend to purchase your first Barn rather early in the game, the chances are that you will have a farm that is still largely covered in debris.

If you don’t clear this and head up to Robin’s shop to place a building, the game will not allow you to build on top of the debris. So find a spot on the farm that you like and mark a clear space out for your Barn. This will save a lot of unnecessary back and forth.

Step Three: Buy Your Barn

Then lastly, all you have to do now is go and buy your Barn. Along with your gathered resources, you’ll need 6,000G for your first Barn, so make sure you save up before you go trying to build.

Once you have the funds, walk up to Robin’s Carpenters Shop in the Mountains just north of Pelican Town center and interact with her when she is tending the shop. There will be an option where it reads ‘Construct Farm Buildings.’ Select this and then select the barn option, place it as you desire on your farm, and then after two days of construction, you will be the proud owner of your own Barn.

How to Care for Barn Animals

We won’t dwell on this too long as this doesn’t really differ from animal to animal, whether they live in a Coop or a Barn, but equally, we want to give you all the necessary tools to succeed. So here are some best practices to tend to your Barn Animals:

Feeding

To keep your animals happy and producing animal products regularly, you need to make sure that each animal is fed daily. So you need to make sure that you have a good supply of Hay on the farm at all times. This can be accomplished by building silos and cutting long grass, allowing animals to seek out their own food in the tall grass, or you can buy Hay from Marnies Ranch south of the farm. However, we would suggest building two silos before you even consider taking on animals.

Petting

If you want your produce to be the best of the best, you need to bond with your animals. A higher friendship meter means better animal products. To raise your friendship points with your animals, you need to interact with them daily, petting them and showing affection. If you do this, your animals will grow to love you and regularly produce high-quality items.

Indoor/Outdoor Time

Then lastly, It’s important to let your animals graze from time to time. This can bring down on your feeding costs if you utilize Fresh Grass Starters well, and it makes the animals happier as a collective, so it is well worth doing.

Then on the flip side, in Winter, you need to ensure that you keep your animals inside and provide heaters to keep them happy and healthy in the Winter season. Also, don’t ever leave your animals outside overnight. This will make them very upset, and not only that, but they will also be susceptible to animal attacks and could die.

Benefits of a Barn in Stardew Valley

So, you now understand how to keep animals happy and how to get your Barn up and running in the first place. However, if you are still not sold on why a Barn is a Stardew Valley essential, well, this section is handmade for you. Here is a rundown of all the key benefits that Barns provide in Stardew Valley:

Profit

Let’s deal with the most obvious reason to get a barn, the sweet, sweet cash. Depending on what animals the player decides to go with, there is the potential to make a good amount of money relative to the point in the game you are playing through.

You can sell the raw products for a quick buck, you can make artisan goods for an extra bump in pay, or you can mature items like Cheese and make even more cash. Then when you start farming Truffles and Ostrich Eggs, you’ll begin to see your wallet bursting. Overall, Barns are a great money-making venture.

Bundles

The other main benefit of investing in a Barn is that you can get your hands on some important items which are essential for completing the Community Center. You will need Large Milk, Large Goat Milk, and Wool to complete the Animal Products bundle.

You will also need a Truffle for the Chef’s Bundle, and you will need Cheese, Goat Cheese, Cloth, and Truffle Oil for the Artisan Bundle. So as you can see, having a Barn can be a brilliant way to speed up your overall progress within Stardew Valley.

Gifts

While this wouldn’t be number one on my list of reasons why you should get a barn, I would suggest that you make use of some of the products as they do make great gifts if given to the right people. For example, Leah loves Truffles, Harvey loves Truffle Oil, Emily loves Cloth, Robin loves Goats Cheese. Honestly, the list goes on, and it’s all about experimenting and finding who loves what and then showering them with gifts regularly.

Companionship

Then lastly, a perhaps overlooked aspect of getting Barn Animals on the farm. Having these animals gives you an inherent sense of responsibility and companionship.

I can’t tell you how long I have spent blankly staring at a screen thinking of the perfect name for a new addition to the farm family, and that is simply because the game makes you care about these little pixellated animals.

Other Helpful Stardew Valley Barn Tips

Now just before we sign off, we want to leave you with a few additional tips that make all the difference when it comes to getting a Barn and tending to your Barnyard Animals. Here are some quick tips below:

Invest In a Silo First

One thing we would suggest before you even consider buying a Barn is building a Silo or two. These are other farm buildings that allow you to store Hay up to 250 pieces. You can use your scythe to cut long fresh grass on your farm, and you will have a 50% chance (or 75% chance with the Golden Scythe) to add some hay to your Silo with each chop.

Hay can be expensive, especially early in the game, so using the resources you already have at your disposal is vital. So to summarise, Silo then barn, in that order.

Craft Lots of Machines

To get the most out of your raw materials and make the most cash, you’ll want to turn them into Artisan Goods, and to do that, you’ll need Artisan Equipment or Machines.

These are craftable items like Cheese Presses or Mayonaisee machines, for example, which boost the profits of your natural produce. We would suggest that you have one machine for every applicable animal you own if possible. Here is a quick list of all the machines you’ll want to craft to cater to all animals in a Barn:

• Mayonaise Machine (Ostrich)
• Cheese Press (Cow and Goat)
• Loom (Sheep)
• Oil Maker (Pig)

Invest In Auto Grabbers and Petters

Then lastly, if you have gotten quite some way through the game and your farm is fairly profitable, it might be time to splash the cash and invest in some luxury items. Auto Grabbers and Auto Petters are just that.

These are machines that, when placed in a Coop or Barn, gather the animals produce or pet each animal, respectively. This is a real-time saver and allows you to automate your farm, freeing up your time for other things like early trips to the Skull Cavern in the Calico Desert, for example.

FAQs

Stardew Valley Barn Guide: Final Thoughts

As you can see from the information above, a Barn in Stardew Valley is a very worthwhile investment. The player can get their hands on some cool animals, some luxury produces, and even make some premium artisan goods if they have the right tools to do so.

Alongside a coop, the player can collect all the possible animals and enjoy all the benefits that this brings. We urge you to invest in a Barn early and reap the rewards. We hope that this guide serves you well, and as always, thank you for reading SdewHQ.