The critically acclaimed farm life game Stardew Valley is filled with many different animals for players to raise and care for. Shortly after inheriting your dearly departed grandfather’s farm, raising livestock becomes an essential priority to thrive in the Valley and beyond Pelican Town. That’s why it’s best to start small with the option to feed chickens.
With this brief guide, we’ll show you the easy steps on how to feed them and start farming eggs. This will include the white, brown, and blue egg variants, as well as money-making opportunities to acquire more gold. Let’s see where we can hatch some eggs as we tend to our chickens’ appetites in Stardew Valley.
How Do You Feed Chickens?
Players can feed chickens in Stardew Valley with grass and hay. You can let chickens feast on grass freely by letting them out of the Coop, a farming structure that Robin sells at her Carpenter’s Shop north of Pelican Town. The chickens go outside and eat the grass on their own, while also gaining a boost in mood. In addition, stacks of hay can be placed in front of the feeding trough at the back of the coop for a more organized and prepared meal.
On top of the white and brown eggs, players can also get themselves a blue one if they complete Shane’s 8-heart event. Once you have the availability for all three colors, your eggs will then be randomly selected upon purchase or a period of hatching on the farm.
Feeding your chickens will return produce either a brown or white egg every morning. Down the line, as you feed them more grass and hay, you’ll eventually be able to produce larger eggs with the friendships you’ve established with the animals. Just be sure to make great use of your Incubator as you progressively raise a family of little farm animals.
One vital recipe to consider is Mayonnaise, which is produced with normal and large-sized eggs via the Mayonnaise Machine. Almost everyone likes the product, except for Caroline, who has a certain distaste for it. Jas, Sam, Sebastian, and Vincent truly despise Mayonnaise, so steer clear of them if you’re in a gift-giving mood.
The values may be low in retrospect if you’re looking to barter with eggs. A base price for the regular egg runs at only 50g; 60g if you’re a Rancher. From there, it only mildly increases. Silver goes for 62g, and 74g for Ranchers. Gold eggs sell for 75g while the Rancher players will receive 90g. Finally, the Iridium eggs are established at 100g, with a small boost for Ranchers at 120g.
Expert Tip
While eggs may not be as profitable on their own, they are important ingredients for several recipes, including Chocolate Cake, Pink Cake, Pancakes, Crab Cakes, and more. As you collect your eggs, be sure to also store away a supply of Wheat Flour; it’ll go with most of the recipes that involve an egg in the mixture. Some of these items sell for a pretty coin too, with Pink Cake being priced at 480g.
Letting them eat grass is a no-brainer, but you still need to know how to prepare hay to feed chickens. One simple route is to head over to Marnie’s Ranch and purchase bales of hay for 50g. The other option is to harvest it with a scythe by cutting grass. However, you have to keep an unfilled Silo on deck for when you use your scythe; otherwise, it’s a dead effort. Silos can be constructed by talking with Robin. After you build one, the hay you harvested will be kept in a box at the top left corner of your Coop, ready to be fed.
Remember to Stockpile Hay for Winter
While grass can be plentiful when it comes to maintaining resources, it’s also important to remember that grass is essentially dead during the Winter season. In other words, grass will not grow, so stock up on hay while you still have time in the warmer seasons. The chickens will need it, especially since they’ll refuse to go outside if it’s cold. The better you take care of them, the better a chance they’ll lay some big eggs for you.
The Winter season can bring harvesting to a halt, so be sure to keep a Silo ready to be filled with hay. It’s probably one of the easiest resources to obtain too, so make sure you have enough to maintain a stable farm. If not, you can rely on the aforementioned Ranch with Marnie for an intake of the dried grass.
In the end, it’s important to feed chickens everyday will advance their maturity and capability to produce large eggs. Evidently, you will see a change in the prices once you get to that stage. It’s important for them to eat hay, so stock as much as you can before the Winter winds starting blowing into Stardew Valley.
