Learn how to get ostriches in Stardew Valley!
Ostriches are the world’s largest birds and have a deadly kick. They may look terrifying to some in real life, but in Stardew Valley, Ostriches are brimming with beauty. Any rancher would love to have them on their farm. However, getting Ostriches in this game can be a real head-scratcher, so here is a guide that will help you acquire one of these majestic flightless birds.
Ostriches are part of the 1.5 update; they are the last ones added to the list of farm animals. Since Ostriches were included in the December 2020 update, you can expect they would only be available to adept players or players near the game’s end. You will spend most of your time at Ginger Island searching for the items required to start breeding Ostriches. So pack your explorer’s backpack, and let’s begin our Ostrich Egg and Ostrich Incubator hunt!
How to Get an Ostrich Egg in Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is no stranger to cryptic notes and hard-to-solve puzzles. And to get an Ostrich Egg, you must dig up some Journal Scraps to find a hidden treasure. Journal Scraps are similar to Secret Notes found all over Pelican Town. Only this time, Journal Scraps are located in all parts of Ginger Island. Each Journal Scrap contains clues or knowledge that can help you solve puzzles and uncover the Island’s lore.
Journal # 10 shows the Ostrich Egg’s whereabouts in Stardew Valley. Finding every Journal entry can be a bit tedious. Therefore, here are some of the easiest and most effective ways to get Journal Scraps:
- Mining or Blowing Up Rocks in the Volcano Dungeon: Rock mounds yield loot, gems, and artifacts, including Journal Scraps.
- Extracting Items from Artifact Spots: Using your hoe, dig up all the spots with wiggly worms that you can find. You would likely get clay most of the time, but there’s also a chance you’ll get rewarded with a Journal Scrap.
- Killing Monsters: Monsters in the Volcano Dungeon may sometimes drop a Journal Scrap when defeated.
- Fishing: You may get Journal Scraps through fishing in two instances. One is by instantly pulling them in with a rod. The other is by obtaining them from Treasure Chests in the fishing mini-game. Although you already have an 8% chance to get Journal Scraps by fishing, there are fishing spots in Ginger Island where you can get more. These fishing spots include the river next to the Island Farm, the Pirate’s Grotto Lake, and the Frog Cave ponds.
Journal Scraps can be obtained in consecutive order. You’ll need to find 10 Journal Scraps to get Journal # 10. The Journal Entry shows a map with a red “X” mark on an area near a curved tree. To the north of the curved tree is the entrance to the Volcano Dungeon. Use a hoe to dig right on the marked X spot to acquire the Ostrich Egg.
Another way to get an Ostrich Egg is by finding a Random Rare Chest by exploring the Volcano Dungeon.
How to Get the Ostrich Incubator in Stardew Valley
Getting hold of an Ostrich Egg might seem easy, but acquiring the Ostrich Incubator used to hatch the egg is much more cumbersome. To simplify things, we have written a step-by-step guide on how to get the crafting recipe for the Ostrich Incubator.
1. Head to the northern side of Ginger Island and repair the bridge near the empty tent labeled the Island Field Office. Donating 10 walnuts to a parrot will get the job done.
2. A cave blocked by a large boulder is next to the newly repaired bridge. Hitting the boulder with a pickaxe will do you nothing. Instead, you’ll need a bomb to get rid of it.
3. Trapped inside that cave is a man called Professor Snail. He will be grateful if you free him, and he’ll offer you Golden Walnuts in exchange for giving him Ancient Fossils.
4. After getting all Four Ancient Fossils and completing the Island Surveys, he’ll reward you with a crafting recipe for the Ostrich Incubator.
Getting All the Ancient Fossils
Ancient Fossils are rare, prehistoric animal bones that you must collect to get the Ostrich Incubator recipe. To help you accumulate these fossils faster, here are some tips you can apply while you’re on a search for them:
Fossilized Frog
Arguably, the most unchallenging one to find is the Mummified Frog because you only need one piece of it. The site where you can find it isn’t that difficult to locate. Go to the Jungle on Island East, south of Leo’s Hut. The Jungle is a small area that’s quite easy to explore. You’ll find no enemies here but only Fiddlehead Ferns that you can forage and Weeds that may contain a Mummified Frog.
Fossilized Bat
The Bat Fossil is another mummified animal that comes in only one piece. Locating it is more laborious than the previous fossil because you’ll have to go mining in the Volcano Dungeon and defeat some enemies to obtain it. To find the Mummified Bat in the mines more efficiently, use bombs to destroy a whole row of rocks instead of hitting them with a pickaxe one by one.
Fossilized Snake
The Snake Fossil is harder to obtain than the Bat and the Frog Fossils. The Mummified Snake consists only of two parts, but they have a lower drop rate, so getting them might take a little grinding.
The first part is a Snake Skull. You may get them by fishing on the West Side of Ginger Island. Look for fishing spots with bubbles in the water for a much higher chance of reeling them. Snake Skull can also be found by digging up Artifact Spots on Island West and at the Dig Site near the Island Field Office.
The second piece is Snake Vertebrae, which can only be found by extracting Artifact Spots on the western part of the island.
Fossilized Large Animal
The most difficult mummified animal to acquire is the largest one, a fossil of an unidentified animal. The large animal has six parts, so finding them all can be a hurdle.
The first two parts are Fossilized legs. Rocks with protruding animal bones called Bone Nodes may contain them. These nodes are found everywhere on Ginger Island. The Southern part of the island spawns more Bone Nodes and Artifact Spots that may have Fossilized Ribs.
Plenty of Fossilized Large animal parts are found in the Dig Site area. Bone Nodes that appear in the Dig Site can also contain some Fossilized Ribs. The beach in that area also has spots where you might fish a Fossilized Spine. Lastly, you can obtain a Fossilized Tail by panning it in the river on the Dig Site.
The last Fossilized part is the Skull of the animal. You can get it by breaking open a Golden Coconut in the same process Clint the Blacksmith does with the Geodes. Harvesting coconuts from Palm Trees can sometimes drop Golden Coconuts. If you harvest a lot of regular Coconut, you can trade ten at the Island Trader in exchange for one Golden Coconut.
Solving the Island Survey
Professor Snail does not only live off of the bone business. He also studies Ginger Island’s flora, fauna, and live specimens. So far, only two survey questions are related to those scientific topics.
You’ll have to find several items on the island to answer these questions correctly. On the likelihood that you answer the questions incorrectly, you’ll be given a chance to answer the survey again the next day. If you aren’t sure which answer to choose, you may refer to the text below.
Question number 1: How many purple flowers are there on Ginger Island? The correct answer is 22.
Question number 2: How many purple starfish are there on Ginger Island? The correct answer is 18.
Raising Ostriches
The Barn is the only farm building that can house Ostriches. So you can expect that the Barn is the only place to put an Ostrich Incubator.
Getting an Ostrich might have been quite an adventure, but raising them and selling their products can make the entire process worthwhile.
Ostriches only lay one egg per week, but each has a base price of 600 Gold. If you take the Rancher Profession route, you can sell one for 750 Gold. The price can increase up to 1,440 Gold for each Iridium Ostrich Egg.
Furthermore, turning one of these enormous eggs into mayonnaise will get you 10 Mayonnaise! Each iridium-quality egg mayonnaise will earn you 532 Gold if you go with the Artisan Profession Route. And if you sell and ship them all together, you’ll get an impressive amount of 5320 Gold.
