I'm having a tough time getting my animals to produce the better version of milk and eggs. I've been making sure they have food and hugs everyday, sun whenever possible, and grass when it's not rainy, but neither their hearts nor their "gifts" are doing all that great. Their hearts are increasing but really, really slowly. My first chicken, that I got 1st half of summer, is at about 2/5 hearts and I'm mid fall at the moment. Is this typical? Or am I doing something wrong?
it takes quite a while to have the hearts go up! increments are from 0 hearts to 0.5 hearts, from 0.5 hearts to 1 heart and so on. it can take about 2-3 seasons for me. there are professions called "coopmaster" and "shepherd" which respectively befriends coop and barn animals faster. coopmaster profession also cuts incubation time in half while shepherd profession allows sheep to produce wool faster. you can choose these professions at farming level 10, provided you have chosen the "rancher" profession at farming level 5. you will almost always or most of the time get large version of eggs and milk if the animal is at max friendship level (5 hearts) to put it simply, the more friendship you have with your animals, the higher chance they will produce large eggs/milk! you do need much patience for stardew valley, it's not a rushy rushy kind of game, nor a grinding game. that's what i love about it most.
Make sure to pet your animals every day, including when it rains If you let them out, make sure to close the coop/barn door at night Other than that, be patient. It takes a long time to get those hearts up
As mentioned above, close the barn door at 6 PM. Purchase a heating element. Pet each animal once a day. Be sure that on rainy days it has hay available inside, one unit per animal, and on non-rainy days (except in winter) there's grass growing outside around the barn to feed it. Also, put up a fence so they don't wander away. Cows and goats will soon be gifting you with large containers of milk, prepackaged for your convenience.
