How to Get a Chicken in Stardew Valley
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Stardew Valley
How to Get a Chicken in Stardew Valley
Tips
Chickens are the easiest and cheapest way to start an animal operation in Stardew Valley. The daily egg income is modest early on but scales well once you have a full Coop of 4–8 chickens all producing Large Eggs processed into Mayonnaise. The real value of starting with chickens is learning the animal care routine — petting, feeding, and managing the Coop door — before investing in the more expensive Barn animals that require the same daily attention but cost significantly more to acquire.
⚡ Quick Answer
Step by Step
Build a Coop on your farm first — costs 4,000g + 300 Wood + 100 Stone at Robin’s carpenter shop. Once the Coop is built, buy a chicken from Marnie’s Ranch for 800g. The chicken moves in immediately and starts laying eggs after a few days once it reaches full happiness. You need a Silo built before the Coop to store Hay for feeding.
1
Build a Silo first. Visit Robin’s Carpenter Shop (north of your farm) and build a Silo for 100g + 100 Stone + 10 Clay + 5 Copper Bars. The Silo stores Hay which is essential for feeding animals through winter. Without it your chickens will be unfed and unhappy every day.
2
Build a Coop. Also from Robin’s shop — a basic Coop costs 4,000g + 300 Wood + 100 Stone and takes 3 days to construct. It holds up to 4 chickens and ducks. Place it near your Silo and farmhouse for easy daily access. Robin builds it while you continue playing normally.
3
Buy a chicken from Marnie. Once the Coop is finished, visit Marnie’s Ranch south of your farm. Talk to her and select «Purchase Animals» — chickens cost 800g each. You can name your chicken and choose its color (white, brown, or blue — blue requires the Witch event later). It moves into your Coop immediately.
4
Feed and pet your chicken daily. Each morning fill the feeding trough in the Coop with Hay (pulled from the Silo via the Hay Hopper inside the Coop). Then pet your chicken by right-clicking it — this gives a happiness boost. On sunny days open the Coop door to let chickens outside, which also raises happiness significantly.
5
Collect eggs daily. Happy, well-fed chickens lay one egg per day which appears in the Coop. Pick it up by right-clicking. As friendship increases over time your chicken produces Large Eggs worth more gold — max friendship (5 hearts) guarantees Large Eggs every day. Install an Auto-Grabber (unlocked at Farming level 10) to collect eggs automatically.
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Upgrade to a Big Coop as soon as possible — it costs 10,000g + 400 Wood + 150 Stone but adds an Incubator that lets you hatch eggs into new chickens for free, eliminating the need to buy more from Marnie.
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Grass outside beats Hay inside for happiness — chickens that graze on grass outdoors get a bigger mood boost than those fed from the trough. Let them out on every non-rainy, non-winter day for faster friendship gains.
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Process eggs in a Mayonnaise Machine for better returns — a regular egg makes Mayonnaise worth 190g (250g with Artisan), compared to selling the egg raw for 50g. Large Eggs make Large Mayonnaise worth 285g. Always process rather than sell raw.
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Plant grass starters in a fenced area near your Coop in Spring — grass grows and spreads naturally, providing free grazing all season. This significantly reduces your Hay consumption and saves money on feed over time.