How to Feed Chickens in Stardew Valley

It’s cool to own chickens in Stardew Valley. Not only do they produce passive income in the form of eggs, but they also just add depth to the game’s endlessly rich pastoral fantasy. Here’s the problem: once you have chickens, you have to take care of them every day. Forever.

When you keep your livestock happy, they eventually produce better stuff. The stuff they produce is rarer or more expensive versions of their typical produce. So, how to feed chickens in Stardew Valley to keep them happy? That’s the question.

In this article, we will give you the answer. Not only will you learn what chickens eat and how to feed them, but you’ll also understand how the seasons influence livestock. Read on to learn more about how to feed chickens in Stardew Valley.

How to Feed Chickens in Stardew Valley

There are two basic ways to feed your chickens in Stardew Valley. When they’re inside, you place hay on the feeding trough inside the coop. You can get this hay from a silo or purchase it from Marnie’s Ranch.

During sunny days, chickens can graze outside on grass. Not only do they prefer this, but it saves your hay supply for a rainy day. In winter or bad weather, chickens won’t go outside. Hay becomes the primary method of feeding them.

Build a silo as early as you can. It will store up to 240 pieces of hay you collect by harvesting it directly with the scythe, or, again, by buying it. Upgrade to a big or deluxe coop for automated feeding. Your autofeeder takes hay directly from your silo and fills the feeding trough each night.

This eliminates the need to feed chickens manually and saves you a lot of daily frustration. You will still need to check on your silo every few days to make sure the supply is good, but feeding chickens will no longer require daily involvement.

What Do Chickens Eat

What do chickens eat in Stardew Valley? Chickens in Stardew Valley eat hay indoors or grass outdoors. The free-range chicken experience of grass is actually preferred by the chickens. It will keep them a little bit happier.

When it’s too cold for grass to grow or the weather is poor, your chickens refuse to go outside. Hay costs 50g per piece at Marnie’s Ranch. However, with a modest amount of planning, you can grow ample stores of this stuff on your farm.

You can harvest hay from grass with your scythe. You can also grow it from wheat on your farm in large quantities. It’s one of the easier crops to produce. Wheat grows in spring, summer, and fall and requires only three watering sessions. Anytime you harvest grass, there’s a 50% chance it leaves behind hay.

You may also occasionally receive hay from Marnie in the mail if you are friends with her.

1. Feed Hay (Indoors)

In Stardew Valley, feeding chickens indoors is easy, but it does require a little bit of attention to detail. To feed chickens hay indoors, place it on the feeding trough. The feeding trough is located on the back wall inside your coop.

Farms with a silo can withdraw hay from the hopper. The hopper is the small bench with a lid next to the feeding trough. You simply interact with the hopper to grab hay and place it on the trough.

Each chicken eats one piece of hay per day. Once you’ve upgraded your coop to the big or deluxe level, you can use the autofeeder feature. Again, this means that hay is pulled from your silo and onto the trough every night. Your only job is ensuring there’s enough hay in storage.

You can verify that chickens have eaten by checking the trough. If it’s empty, they’ve been fed. You can also do it by interacting with the chickens. Not only will this keep them even happier, but it’s a good way to get a sense of how they are feeling.

Buying hay is strongly discouraged. That 50g per piece price available at Marnie’s Ranch would set a farmer with four chickens back 200g a day. At this price, you’d break even producing regular eggs, which also sell for 50g.

There are many free ways to get hay. It takes only a little bit of proactive planning during the right seasons to keep yourself in good supply.

2. Feed Fresh Grass (Outdoors)

Figuring out how to feed chickens Stardew Valley outside is even simpler. Feeding chickens fresh grass outdoors is the easiest method. During sunny days in the spring, summer, or fall, simply leave the coop door open.

Your chickens will wander out on their own in the morning to graze.

Each chicken eats one patch of grass per day. This will satisfy their daily food requirement, keep them happy, and allow you to retain your hay reserves. All this system requires from you is to leave the door open.

You can close the coop door at night for a minor happiness boost. However, you should be aware that if you accidentally close your door while your chickens are still outside, they won’t be able to come back in and will appear grumpy.

Grass doesn’t grow during winter. Outdoor feeding during the season will not be possible. Make sure to provide hay on rainy days for your free-range chickens. Finally, pay a little bit of attention to the grassy patch that they graze on. It’s easy to manage grass with grass starter seeds. But if you have a lot of livestock concentrated in one area, they will deplete your supply over time.

How to Build a Chicken Coop and Get Chickens

Chicken ownership begins with building a coop. Start with a visit to Robin’s Carpenter Shop. She is located northeast of your farm in the mountains.

To get started, you’ll need:

• 4,000g
• 300 Wood
• 100 Stone

The cost of the coop makes it difficult for farmers in their first season or two to afford.

The wood and stone are easy to come by. You should be able to get most of that just by clearing out your farm and exploring the wider Stardew area.

Robin takes two days to complete construction. Before she can do that, you’ll need to clear out a three-by-six tile space on your farm. While you’re in Robin’s shop, you might take a look at some of her other carpentry projects. For more advanced building, you’ll need hardwood. You’ll need to learn how to get Hardwood in Stardew Valley. When you’ve built your coop, visit Marnie’s Ranch. She’ll sell you chickens for 800g each. Her shop is open from 9 AM to 4 PM every day except Monday and Tuesday.

Once you’ve purchased a chicken, you’ll name it. Then it will immediately appear in your coop, all yours and ready to be cared for.

What Are Eggs Used For?

Eggs are one of the most versatile farm items. They can be sold as is for 50g or more, depending on the size and quality of the egg, or they can be processed into mayonnaise. They can be cooked in recipes like Fried Egg, Omelet, and Pancakes. Not only do these dishes restore your energy, but they can also be sold or given as gifts to villagers.

Eggs are well-received gifts for several villagers. Alex and Sam like regular eggs. Sebastian likes Void Eggs. These are a bit different, coming from Void Chickens that can only be purchased from Krobus in the Sewers for 5,000g.

For more information on getting gifts for Sebastian, check out our guide on what Sebastian likes in Stardew Valley.

The better you care for your chickens, the better eggs they produce. Large eggs sell for 95g, which significantly improves your farm’s profit margin. Once you upgrade your coop, you can raise Ducks, producing Duck Eggs and Duck Feathers. The commercial element of raising livestock can be scaled up dramatically. For most farmers, though, it begins with some basic chickens.

Additional Strategies for Feeding Chickens

Silos are really easy to make and take a lot of friction out of how to feed chickens in Stardew Valley. For just:

• 100g
• 100 Stone
• 10 Clay
• 5 Copper Bars

You can have it built at Robin’s Carpenter Shop.

For the silo, you’ll need to figure out how to get clay and copper in Stardew Valley. Able to store 240 pieces of hay, the Silo will ensure that you have a reliable source of food ready for Winter or for other situations where the chickens can’t feed themselves.

Outside of that, plant Grass Starters. You can get them from Pierre’s General Store for 100g each.

This will create a natural grazing area that spreads over time. As Winter approaches, stock up on hay by cutting as much grass as possible during Fall. Once you upgrade to a Big or Deluxe Coop, the Autofeeder handles feeding automatically. It pulls hay from your Silo each night and saves you valuable in-game time.

If you’re playing with friends and want to coordinate farm management tasks, check out our article on whether Stardew Valley is cross-platform.

The hardest part of how to feed chickens in Stardew Valley is on the front end.

You do have to do a lot of work to get livestock going. Once you do, though, it can generate hundreds or thousands of gold a day with nothing required of you except to collect and sell the eggs.

Stacking passive income through things like tapping trees creates an even more profitable farm. For more on that, learn more in our guide on how to get Maple Syrup in Stardew Valley.

Feeding Chickens In Stardew Valley Made Easy

Figuring out how to feed chickens in Stardew Valley is straightforward once you understand the basics: provide Hay indoors or let them graze on fresh grass outdoors, and make sure they eat every single day to stay happy and produce eggs. 

Building a Silo early ensures you have enough Hay for Winter, while planting Grass Starters around your Coop creates a sustainable outdoor feeding system during warmer seasons.

Upgrading your Coop unlocks the Autofeeder, which automates the entire feeding process and saves you time each day.

You can maximize your egg production by keeping your chickens happy and well-fed. Remember to pet your chickens daily, close the Coop door at night, and maintain your Hay supply before Winter arrives.

With these strategies in place, your chickens will thrive year-round and become a reliable source of income on your farm. If you are ready to start your farming journey, get Stardew Valley on Eneba and begin raising your own flock today.

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