Cows, Jersey Cows, and Yaks

The first animal you'll have on your farm is a Cow. Dunhill will have Neil deliver your first cow to your farm on Spring 9 of your first year. Cows will produce milk that you can sell or, later in the game, convert to butter, cheese, and yogurt by using the Fermenter in the maker shed.

There are three types of cows in A New Beginning:

The standard Cow unlocks on Spring 9. If you want more, go to Neil's shop and buy another for 10,000 G. Neil sells three styles of normal cows: one with a mostly black face, one with black spots on its eyes, and a third that has black spots on its cheeks. Neil will sell one style each time you open his shop inventory, so if he is offering the style you don't want, simply exit his shop and enter again to see if he changes his offered style.
The Jersey Cow produces Jersey Milk that sells for more than the standard Cow Milk. Jersey Cows become available at Neil's shop starting in Fall of year 2 or after you have three standard Cow births on your farm. Animal births from the bubble-style Cow you can receive from the Cow Festival does not count towards unlocking the Jersey before Fall of year 2. Jersey Cows come in two styles, all brown or brown-spotted, and will cost 11,500 G each.
Lastly, the Yak is available once you reach Winter of your first year; it doesn't have an alternate requirement like the Jersey Cow. Each Yak will cost 20,000 G and it can't be impregnated. Yak Milk sells for more than Milk or Jersey Milk, and it only comes in a grey-blue color.

There is also a classic Harvest Moon bubble-cow from the Cow Festival. The bubble-cow produces regular Milk and will always be the grand prize at the Cow Festival, even if you already have one. The bubble-cow can be bred to have baby bubble-cows if you don't want to wait until the next Cow Festival to have more bubblies.

Milk Production

Neil will give you a Milker to use on your cows. You can collect milk from cows every day, as long as the cow's stress level isn't too high. If you increase your cows' productivity by feeding them Treats and Cow Treats, you can get up to a maximum of 5 milk per cow per day. To increase productivity by one level, you will need to give 7 Treats and 24 Cow Treats to a standard Cow, 4 Treats and 27 Cow Treats to a Jersey Cow, and 4 Treats and 45 Cow Treats to receive an additional milk from the Yak. You can only give one treat per cow per day.

To reach the maximum 5-product level though, your cow will need to be super-sized! The increase in size and the ability to produce 5 products are tied together; the cow won't reach a bigger size unless you've fed it enough treats, and it won't produce 5 products until it is a larger size. So to reach the 5-product level:

Feed it enough treats to reach the next level after level 4
Have the cow between 9 to 10 hearts of friendship
The cow has spend 1000 hours of time outside the barn on your farm

If you have pets herding your cows, reaching 1000 hours of outside time won't be a problem. Pets will herd animals at 7:00 am and bring them back in at 5:00 pm, which gives the cow 10 hours of grazing time. After 100 days of being herded, the cow will naturally have the necessary 1000 hours.

If the cow drops below 9 hearts, it won't shrink back to its original size or stop producing 5 products.

To have your cow produce Great quality products it needs to spend approximately 50 hours at Neil's Animal Sanctuary. It's actually a little less because you'll get a 1-hour credit for simply sending your cows to the sanctuary. Trips to the sanctuary will cost 100 G per animal, and it is the only thing you can do that day until either you leave and take your animals home, or Neil kicks you out automatically at 9:00 pm. Once a cow begins to produce Great products, it will continue to until it dies.

Breeding and Life Spans

You can breed Cows and Jersey Cows by going to Neil's Animal Shop and selecting the option to impregnate. A pregnant cow will stay inside your barn for 20 days, and the baby cow will have half the friendship hearts as its mother. You can breed the bubble-style Cow but you can't breed the Yak.

A baby cow will take 20 days to grow into an adult cow.

Cows will naturally pass away when they become too old. The more friendship the cow has, the less of a chance that it will die in the morning when you wake up. Cows, Jersey Cows, and Yaks have a minimum life span of 3 years and a maximum life span of 8 years. If you save your game the night before, and your animal dies, reload your save game and go to bed to see if it survives the next morning.

Milk Products

Name	Maker Shed Recipe	Profit (1 Star to 5 Star)
Milk	---	240 G \| 320 G \| 400 G \| 480 G \| 560 G
Great Milk	---	720 G \| 960 G \| 1200 G \| 1440 G \| 1680 G
Jersey Milk	---	480 G \| 640 G \| 800 G \| 960 G \| 1120 G
Great Jersey Milk	---	1440 G \| 1920 G \| 2400 G \| 2880 G \| 3360 G
Yak Milk	---	840 G \| 1120 G \| 1400 G \| 1680 G \| 1960 G
Great Yak Milk	---	2520 G \| 3360 G \| 4200 G \| 5040 G \| 5800 G
Cheese	Milk	252 G \| 336 G \| 420 G \| 504 G \| 588 G
Great Cheese	Great Milk	756 G \| 1008 G \| 1260 G \| 1512 G \| 1764 G
Jersey Cheese	Jersey Milk	504 G \| 672 G \| 840 G \| 1008 G \| 1176 G
Great Jersey Cheese	Great Jersey Milk	1512 G \| 2016 G \| 2520 G \| 3024 G \| 3528 G
Yak Cheese	Yak Milk	888 G \| 1184 G \| 1480 G \| 1776 G \| 2072 G
Great Yak Cheese	Great Yak Milk	2652 G \| 3536 G \| 4420 G \| 5304 G \| 6188 G
Herb Cheese	Milk + herb	288 G \| 384 G \| 480 G \| 576 G \| 672 G
Great Herb Cheese	Great Milk + herb	792 G \| 1056 G \| 1320 G \| 1584 G \| 1848 G
Jersey Herb Cheese	Jersey Milk + herb	540 G \| 720 G \| 900 G \| 1080 G \| 1260 G
Great J. Herb Cheese	Great Jersey Milk + herb	1548 G \| 2064 G \| 2580 G \| 3096 G \| 3612 G
Yak Herb Cheese	Yak Milk + herb	924 G \| 1232 G \| 1540 G \| 1848 G \| 2156 G
Great Y. Herb Cheese	Great Yak Milk + herb	2688 G \| 3584 G \| 4480 G \| 5376 G \| 6272 G
Yogurt	Milk + Mint	264 G \| 352 G \| 440 G \| 528 G \| 616 G
Great Yogurt	Great Milk + Mint	792 G \| 1056 G \| 1320 G \| 1584 G \| 1848 G
Name	Required Ingredients	Profit (1 Star to 5 Star)
Jersey Yogurt	Jersey Milk + Mint	528 G \| 704 G \| 880 G \| 1056 G \| 1232 G
Great Jersey Yogurt	Great Jersey Milk + Mint	1584 G \| 2112 G \| 2640 G \| 3168 G \| 3696 G
Yak Yogurt	Yak Milk + Mint	924 G \| 1232 G \| 1540 G \| 1848 G \| 2156 G
Great Yak Yogurt	Great Yak Milk + Mint	2772 G \| 3696 G \| 4620 G \| 5544 G \| 6468 G
Fruit Yogurt	Milk + Aloe + Banana + Peach	624 G \| 832 G \| 1040 G \| 1248 G \| 1456 G
Great Fruit Yogurt	Great Milk + Aloe + Banana + Peach	1152 G \| 1536 G \| 1920 G \| 2304 G \| 2688 G
Jersey Fruit Yogurt	Jersey Milk + Aloe + Orange + Apple	888 G \| 1184 G \| 1480 G \| 1776 G \| 2072 G
Grt. J. Fruit Yogurt	Great Jersey Milk + Aloe + Orange + Apple	1944 G \| 2592 G \| 3240 G \| 3888 G \| 4536 G
Yak Fruit Yogurt	Yak Milk + honey + Grape + Kiwi + Cherry	1284 G \| 1712 G \| 2140 G \| 2568 G \| 2996 G
Grt. Y. Fruit Yogurt	Great Yak Milk + honey + Grape + Kiwi + Cherry	3132 G \| 4176 G \| 5220 G \| 6264 G \| 7308 G
Butter	Milk + Oil	264 G \| 352 G \| 440 G \| 528 G \| 616 G
Great Butter	Great Milk + Oil	792 G \| 1056 G \| 1320 G \| 1584 G \| 1848 G
Jersey Butter	Jersey Milk + Oil	528 G \| 704 G \| 880 G \| 1056 G \| 1232 G
Great Jersey Butter	Great Jersey Milk + Oil	1584 G \| 2112 G \| 2640 G \| 3168 G \| 3696 G
Yak Butter	Yak Milk + Oil	924 G \| 1232 G \| 1540 G \| 1848 G \| 2156 G
Great Yak Butter	Great Yak Milk + Oil	2772 G \| 3696 G \| 4620 G \| 5544 G \| 6468 G
Herb Butter	Milk + Oil + herb	300 G \| 400 G \| 500 G \| 600 G \| 700 G
Great Herb Butter	Great Milk + Oil + herb	828 G \| 1104 G \| 1380 G \| 1656 G \| 1932 G
Jersey Herb Butter	Jersey Milk + Oil + herb	564 G \| 752 G \| 940 G \| 1128 G \| 1316 G
Great J. Herb Butter	Great Jersey Milk + Oil + herb	1620 G \| 2160 G \| 2700 G \| 3240 G \| 3780 G
Yak Herb Butter	Yak Milk + Oil + herb	960 G \| 1280 G \| 1600 G \| 1920 G \| 2240 G
Great Y. Herb Butter	Great Yak Milk + Oil + herb	2808 G \| 3744 G \| 4680 G \| 5616 G \| 6552 G