How to Raise Happy Chickens in Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley has an abundance of cute animals that you can raise on your farm, and Chickens are one of the best animals to keep. Not only are they affordable to purchase, but they can also bring in a steady income for your farm. However, in order to make the most money out of your Chickens, you need to keep them happy. This might be confusing to some players who only focus on the friendship hearts, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.
How Chickens Work in Stardew Valley
Chickens are farm animals that live in the Coop and produce Eggs every day. You can sell Eggs for a minimum of 50 g at Pierre’s Store or at the Shipping Bin on the farm. To get Chickens, you need to build a Coop on your farm, which can be done from the Carpenter’s Shop. Once you have the Coop, you can talk to Marnie at her Ranch to buy a Chicken for 800 g. The Chicken that you get will be a baby and will take 3 nights to grow into a mature, egg-producing Chicken.
There are two types of Chickens you can get at the beginning of the game: White and Brown Chickens. The only difference between these two Chickens is the color of their Eggs, but the sell price is the same. Later in the game, you can also unlock other types of Chickens, such as Blue, Void, and Golden Chickens.
How Many Chickens Can You Have Per Coop in Stardew Valley?
For the level 1 Coop, you can have 4 Chickens inside. The Big Coop, the 2nd level upgrade, can hold 8 Chickens, and the Deluxe Coop, the final possible upgrade, allows 12 animals inside. The Big and Deluxe Coop can also hold other types of animals inside. The simple Coop can only have Chickens living in it.
How to Get Large Eggs From Chickens in Stardew Valley
One of the things that make Chickens the best Coop animals is that they can produce Large Eggs, which are twice as expensive as normal Eggs. These Large Eggs will allow you to make gold quality Mayonnaise. However, to get Large Eggs, you need to keep your Chickens happy and at their best mood.
How to Befriend Chickens and Increase Their Friendship
Chickens can become your best friends in Stardew Valley, and each friendship heart with a Chicken is worth 200 friendship points. You can have a total of 5 hearts with them, which means the maximum friendship value that you can get with them is 1k points. Once you get 200 friendship points with a Chicken, they will already start getting a chance to produce Large Eggs.
To increase your friendship with Chickens, you need to perform certain actions. You can pet them (+15 friendship points) or let them eat grass outside (+8 friendship points) to increase their friendship value. However, you need to be careful not to do anything that lowers their friendship. Not feeding them (-20 friendship points), letting them sleep outside (-20 friendship points), or not petting them (-10 friendship points) can all lower their friendship value.
How to Make Chickens Happy and Increase Their Mood
Mood is equally important as friendship when it comes to getting Large Eggs. Chickens will be “happy” if they have a Mood over 200 and “sad” if their Mood is under 30. To ensure that your Chickens stay happy, you need to perform certain actions. For example, you can let them eat grass outside (Increases Mood to 255), pet them (+32 Mood), or keep them closed inside the Coop with a Heater if their Mood is over 150 and it is Winter (+4 to +8 Mood every 10 in-game minutes). You can also feed them (+4 Mood) or keep them outside after 6 PM if their Mood is below 150 (+4 to +8 Mood every 10 in-game minutes).
However, certain actions can lower their Mood. For example, not feeding them (-20 Mood), letting them sleep outside (-20 Mood), or not petting them (-10 Mood) can lower their Mood value.
Conclusion
Raising happy Chickens in Stardew Valley is crucial for getting a steady income. As long as you feed and pet them every day and avoid any negative actions, you should be able to get their Mood and friendship to the maximum level, allowing you to get Large Eggs almost every day.