Stardew Valley Chickens Complete Guide to Feeding, Types, Eggs & Care (2026)

Chickens are usually the first animals most players buy in Stardew Valley Apk, and honestly, they are a great place to start. They are affordable, fit inside any size Coop, and give you a steady supply of eggs that you can sell, cook with, or turn into mayonnaise for extra profit.

But there is one problem that almost every beginner runs into. You wake up in the morning and your chickens are suddenly “grumpy” or “looking a little thin,” even though you feel like you have been taking care of them properly.

Don’t worry, though. This guide covers everything you need to know. We will explain what chickens eat, how to feed them the right way, what each of the five chicken types does, how egg quality works, and the simple daily habits that keep your flock happy and productive all year.

What Do Chickens Eat in Stardew Valley?

Chickens are farm animals that live inside the Coop, and they need food to produce Eggs. The good news is that their diet is incredibly simple.

Every Chicken eats only two things:

• Grass
• Hay

That’s it.

There is no special chicken feed, no premium food, and no difference between what a White Chicken, Blue Chicken, Void Chicken, or Golden Chicken eats. Every type of chicken survives on the exact same food.

Grass

Grass grows naturally outside during Spring, Summer, and Fall. If your chickens can go outdoors, they will eat the grass directly from the ground.

Hay

Hay is simply dried and stored grass. It is used when chickens stay indoors, during rainy weather, or throughout Winter.

 Pro Tip: Letting chickens eat fresh grass outside is actually better than feeding them hay indoors. Grazing on grass increases happiness faster, and happier chickens eventually produce better-quality eggs.

Before You Can Feed Chickens, You Need a Coop

You cannot keep chickens without building a Coop first. It sounds obvious, but a lot of new players buy chicks from Marnie before realizing they have nowhere to put them.

Before feeding chickens, visit Robin at the Carpenter’s Shop and build a Coop. The basic Coop lets you keep chickens, but you will need to feed them manually.

After the Coop is finished, head over to Marnie’s Ranch and buy your first chickens. White and Brown Chickens are randomly chosen when you buy them, so check the top of your screen before confirming the purchase if you want a specific color.

How to Feed Chickens Indoors (Using Hay)

This is the method every player uses early in the game, especially during Winter or on rainy days when chickens cannot leave the Coop.

Step-by-Step: Feeding Chickens With Hay

1. Walk into your Coop in the morning.
2. Interact with the Hay Hopper on the wall.
3. The hay will move into your inventory.
4. Walk to the feeding bench inside the Coop.
5. Place one piece of hay for each chicken.

Stand next to the feeding bench while holding the hay and place it down. One piece of hay feeds one animal for one day.

So, if you have four chickens, you need four pieces of hay on the feeding bench every morning they stay indoors.

 Pro Tip: Unless you own a Deluxe Coop, feeding is completely manual. Always remember to refill the feeding bench on rainy days because forgetting this is the most common reason chickens become grumpy.

Where Does Hay Actually Come From?

This part confuses almost every new player.

To get hay, use your Scythe to cut grass around your farm. Every time you cut grass, there is a chance that hay will automatically be added to your storage.

But there is one important catch.

You need a Silo.

Without a Silo, cutting grass does not give you any hay at all.

A lot of beginners build a Coop first and then realize they have no way to feed their chickens because they never built a Silo.

Why You Need a Silo

A Silo is a cheap building that Robin can build for you. It automatically stores hay whenever you cut grass with your Scythe.

Without a Silo:

• Cutting grass gives you nothing useful.
• You must buy hay from Marnie for 50 gold each.
• Feeding four chickens throughout Winter costs 5,600 gold in hay alone.

Pro Tip: Build a Silo before, or immediately after, your first Coop. Spend your early weeks cutting grass around your farm and filling your Silo before Winter arrives.

Read This Silo Complete Guide : Silo in Stardew Valley

The Better Way: Letting Chickens Graze Outside

Once Spring arrives and the weather is nice, you get another feeding option, and honestly, it is the better one.

How to Let Chickens Outside

1. Build a fence around a grassy area connected to your Coop.
2. Open the small shutter on the side of the Coop in the morning.
3. Your chickens will walk outside by themselves.
4. They will eat any grass they find.
5. Close the shutter before nighttime.

On sunny days, chickens automatically eat grass outside. This saves hay and increases their happiness.

Why Grass Is Better Than Hay

Yes, grass is better than hay.

Chickens that eat fresh grass gain happiness faster, and happier chickens have a better chance of producing high-quality eggs.

There is also another hidden benefit.

One patch of grass can feed more chickens directly than if you cut it and turn it into hay first.

 Pro Tip: Plant Grass Starters inside your fenced area and place a Lightning Rod on top of one grass tile. This prevents the chickens from completely destroying that patch and allows it to keep growing back.

What Happens If You Forget to Feed Them?

Missing one feeding is not a disaster, but it does have consequences.

Effects of an Unfed Chicken

• Their mood drops to “grumpy” or “looking a little thin.”
• They do not produce an egg that day.
• The chance of getting Large Eggs becomes lower.
• Friendship growth slows down.

The good news is that one missed feeding does not permanently hurt your relationship with your chickens. Feed them properly the next day, and they usually recover quickly.

Don’t Forget to Pet Your Chickens

Feeding is only half of chicken care.

The other half is petting.

Right-click on your chickens once every day. They like being petted, and it increases friendship.

You should:

• Feed them every day.
• Pet them every day.
• Avoid leaving them outside overnight.

Petting only takes a few seconds, but it greatly increases your chances of getting Large Eggs and Large Brown Eggs.

 Pro Tip: Make petting part of your morning routine. Walk into the Coop, pet every chicken, collect your eggs, refill the feeding bench, and continue with your day. The whole process takes less than a minute.

Winter Care: The Heater

Winter changes everything.

Grass disappears, chickens stay indoors, and temperature becomes important.

During Winter, place a Heater inside your Coop to keep your chickens warm. You can buy one from Marnie’s Ranch.

Winter Checklist

• Place a Heater inside every Coop before Winter 1.
• Make sure your Silo has enough hay for the entire season.
• Continue feeding hay every morning.
• Continue petting your chickens every day.

Friendship does not stop during Winter, so daily care still matters.

The Five Chicken Types Explained

Stardew Valley has five different types of chickens: White, Brown, Blue, Void, and Golden. Each one is unlocked in a different way and produces a different type of egg.

White Chicken

White Chickens can be bought from Marnie for 800g after you build a Coop. The game randomly decides whether the chicken will be white or brown when you buy it.

White Chickens produce regular White Eggs.

Brown Chicken

Brown Chickens are purchased exactly the same way as White Chickens. The only difference is the color.

They produce Brown Eggs, which are needed for some Community Center Bundles.

Blue Chicken

Blue Chickens become available after seeing Shane’s 8-heart event.

Once you unlock them, every time you buy a chicken from Marnie, there is a 25% chance it will be blue. Check the top of your screen before confirming the purchase.

Blue Chickens still produce regular White Eggs. Their unique color is mostly for collection purposes.

Void Chicken

Void Chickens are obtained from Void Eggs.

You can get a Void Egg from a random Witch event or buy one from Krobus. Put the Void Egg into an Incubator, and it will hatch into a Void Chicken.

Void Chickens produce Void Eggs.

Golden Chicken

Golden Chickens are a late-game reward that becomes available after reaching Perfection.

Golden Chickens hatch from Golden Eggs and require at least a Deluxe Coop.

They are mostly considered a prestige animal rather than a practical farming choice.

---

Eggs, Egg Quality, and What They’re Worth

Once your chickens grow up and stay fed, they start producing eggs every day.

A chicken becomes mature after three nights. A mature and fed chicken produces one White Egg or Brown Egg every day.

Regular Eggs can:

• Be sold for gold.
• Be used in cooking.
• Be placed inside an Incubator to hatch another chicken.

As your chickens become happier and gain more friendship, they get a chance to produce:

• Large Eggs
• Large Brown Eggs

Large Eggs sell for more money and are much more valuable than regular eggs.

---

Turning Eggs Into Mayonnaise

Selling raw eggs is fine in the beginning, but turning them into mayonnaise is usually much more profitable.

Regular Eggs, Large Eggs, Ostrich Eggs, and Golden Eggs can all be turned into Mayonnaise.

You unlock the Mayonnaise Machine recipe at Farming Level 2, making it one of the easiest artisan goods to start producing.

A simple chicken farm can become a steady source of income once you start processing your eggs instead of selling them raw.

---

Color Matters for Bundles

White and Blue Chickens produce White Eggs.

Brown Chickens produce Brown Eggs.

If you want to complete the Community Center Bundles, it is a good idea to keep at least one Brown Chicken because some bundles require Brown Eggs.

---

Common Chicken Care Mistakes

These mistakes happen all the time, especially for new players.

Mistake 1: No Silo, No Hay

This is the most common beginner mistake.

Without a Silo, cutting grass gives you no hay, and you end up buying expensive hay from Marnie.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to Close the Coop Door

If you let your chickens outside, remember to close the shutter at night.

Leaving it open can reduce production and may expose animals to attacks during the early and middle stages of the game.

Mistake 3: Assuming the Auto-Feeder Does Everything

Auto-feeders only place hay on the feeding bench.

They do not pet your chickens.

Petting is always manual, no matter how upgraded your Coop is.

Mistake 4: Not Saving Hay Before Winter

Grass does not grow during Winter.

If your Silo is empty when Winter starts, you will have to buy hay from Marnie for the entire season.

Mistake 5: Thinking Special Chickens Need Special Food

Void Chickens and Golden Chickens do not need special food.

Every chicken in the game eats exactly the same two things:

• Grass
• Hay

---

Upgrading Your Coop: When Feeding Becomes Automatic

If manually feeding your chickens every day is getting annoying, upgrading your Coop can solve that problem.

The basic Coop requires manual feeding.

However, once you upgrade to a Deluxe Coop, hay automatically moves from your Silo to the feeding bench every morning.

You no longer have to refill it yourself.

You can make things even easier by getting:

• Auto-Grabber for collecting eggs.
• Auto-Petter for increasing friendship automatically.

With these upgrades, your chicken farm becomes almost completely automatic.

 Pro Tip: A Deluxe Coop, Auto-Grabber, and Auto-Petter together let you leave your chickens alone for long periods without losing production.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

---

---

Final Thoughts

Feeding chickens in Stardew Valley really comes down to three simple habits:

1. Build a Silo early.
2. Let your chickens eat fresh grass whenever possible.
3. Pet them every single day.

Once these habits become part of your daily routine, chickens become one of the easiest and most reliable ways to make money on your farm.

A few starter chicks can eventually turn into a steady supply of Eggs, Large Eggs, and Mayonnaise that helps fund everything else you want to build in Stardew Valley.