Farming simulator Stardew Valley transpots its players to a simple life on the land away from their 9 to 5 corporate cubicle slog. This is a great game to play in between heart-wrenching JRPGs or intense shooters — but that doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park. You need to earn your keep by growing crops, raising livestock, and making friends with the townspeople nearby.
When you start raising livestock, you’ll likely end up caring for (or wrangling) a number of chickens. You need to house and feed them to keep them happy, but doing so requires a number of steps. In this short guide, we’re going to show you how to feed your chickens so you can keep them clucking.
How to House and Feed Chickens in Stardew Valley
Step 1: Get a Chicken Coop
The first thing you need to do is buy a chicken coop. You can buy a chicken coop from Robin’s carpenter shop, which costs 4000g and requires 300 wood and 100 stone. Wood and stone are easy to acquire by using your axe and pickaxe respectively.
The coop will take 3 in-game days to build. It’s a good idea to build a fence around it so your chickens don’t go too free range.
Step 2: Acquire Chickens
Once you have built a coop, you need to get a chicken (or several)! You can buy a chick from Marnie for 800g, which will eventually grow up into a chicken. But to ensure it grows up, you have to make sure it’s fed and cared for.
Step 3: Buy Chicken Feed
If you’re not prepared to care for your chicken, you will get messages like “[your chicken] is looking a little thin”. Obviously, feeding it is your primary concern — so make sure you have feed for it in all sorts of weather. Whether it’s raining or sunny will determine what kind of feed you can use with your chicken:
- On dry days, your chickens can feed on the grass outside the coop. You can buy this from Pierre’s General Store for 500g.
- On wet days, the chickens will stay inside, where you must feed them hay. You can buy hay from Marnie for 50g.
- Alternatively, you can build a silo and use that to store the grass cut down with your scythe as hay. This requires materials and money just like the coop – 5 bars of copper, 100 gold, 100 stone and 10 lots of clay. This investment does pay off, as the grass will turn into 250 units of hay.
Making sure your chickens are fed is key to making them happy and healthy – and they will produce an egg for you a day. Score!
Did these tips help you keep your chickens well-fed? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out the rest of our Stardew Valley guides for even more tips on running a thriving farm.
- Stardew Valley Guide: Crops for the Busy Farmer
- Stardew Valley Food Recipe and Stat Buff Guide
- Stardew Valley Beginner’s Tips for the Farmer Without a Clue
- Winter Blues: A Stardew Valley Season Guide
- Stardew Valley Money Making Guide
- The Most Common Mistakes New Players Make in Stardew Valley
