You need 450 gold and a silo before you can build a chicken coop

To get a chicken coop in Stardew Valley, you must first unlock the ability to construct farm buildings. This happens automatically once you own the farm. The chicken coop itself costs 450 gold and requires 100 wood and 10 copper bars to build. You cannot construct it until you have all three resources on hand.

Before you build the coop, construct a silo first. A silo costs 100 gold, 10 wood, and 5 copper bars, and it stores hay automatically when you cut grass with a scythe. Without a silo, you will need to buy hay from Marnie's ranch every day at 50 gold per bundle, which costs far more than building the silo upfront. The silo pays for itself within a few days of regular feeding.

Key Takeaways

  • Build a silo before the chicken coop so you can store hay from grass instead of buying it daily from Marnie.
  • The chicken coop costs 450 gold, 100 wood, and 10 copper bars; you need all three resources before construction begins.
  • Copper bars come from the blacksmith in town—you must smelt copper ore (5 ore plus 1 bar of coal per bar) or buy them for 60 gold each.
  • Once the coop is built, buy a chicken from Marnie for 800 gold; the chicken produces eggs every day if fed and happy.
  • Chickens need hay or grass daily; without food, they become unhappy and stop laying eggs within a few days.

Where to get wood and copper ore

Wood drops from trees when you chop them with an axe. Chop any tree on your farm or in the forest areas around Pelican Town. You need 100 wood total for the coop, which takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes of steady chopping depending on your axe level. Higher axe levels (gained by chopping) let you harvest more wood per swing.

Copper ore comes from the mines in the mountains north of town. Enter the mine entrance and descend to floors 1 through 40. Copper ore appears in breakable rocks on these floors. You need 10 copper ore to smelt into 10 copper bars (each bar requires 5 ore plus 1 coal). Coal also comes from the mines—look for it in the same rocks as copper. If smelting feels slow, Marnie sells copper bars for 60 gold each, though buying all 10 bars costs 600 gold.

How to smelt copper ore into bars

Take your copper ore and coal to the blacksmith's shop in town. The blacksmith is inside the building south of the saloon, open every day except Wednesday. Click on the furnace (the large stone structure on the left side of the shop) to open the smelting menu.

Place 5 copper ore and 1 coal into the furnace. The smelting takes 30 in-game minutes. You can leave the shop and do other tasks while it smelts. One furnace batch makes 1 copper bar, so you will need to smelt 10 times to get 10 bars. Doing this in batches takes about 5 in-game hours total, but you can smelt while fishing, foraging, or other activities happen elsewhere.

Building the coop and what happens next

Once you have 450 gold, 100 wood, and 10 copper bars, open your inventory and select the "Construct Farm Building" option (or use the menu from your house). Choose "Chicken Coop" from the list. The game will ask you to place it on your farm. Select an empty space with at least a 3-by-3 tile area. The building appears when ready and is ready to use.

The coop comes with one empty slot for a chicken. The building has a door on the south side that opens and closes automatically at dawn and dusk. Inside, you will see a hay hopper (where hay goes) and nesting boxes (where chickens lay eggs). You do not need to do anything to the coop itself—it is ready for animals when ready.

Buying your first chicken from Marnie

Visit Marnie's ranch, located east of the town square, any day except Wednesday. Marnie is inside the ranch building. Talk to her and select "Purchase Animals." Choose "Chicken" from the list. A white chicken costs 800 gold. Brown and blue chickens cost the same but are rarer and have no gameplay difference—they lay the same eggs and eat the same food.

Marnie will ask you which building to place the chicken in. Select your chicken coop. The chicken appears in the coop when ready and is ready to be fed. If you do not have hay in the hopper, the chicken will eat grass from your farm if you leave the coop door open during the day. Otherwise, buy hay from Marnie for 50 gold per bundle (10 pieces of hay per bundle).

Feeding and caring for your chicken daily

Each chicken eats one piece of hay per day. Place hay in the hopper inside the coop by standing next to it and pressing the action button with hay in your inventory. The chicken will eat automatically. If the hopper is empty and no grass is available outside, the chicken becomes unhappy. Unhappy chickens stop laying eggs after a few days of not being fed.

To keep your chicken happy, pet it every day by clicking on it. Happy chickens lay eggs more consistently and may produce higher-quality eggs (silver or gold star eggs instead of regular ones). You can also leave the coop door open during the day so the chicken can eat grass outside, which counts as food and reduces hay consumption. Close the door at night to protect the chicken from wild animals.

Upgrading the coop for more chickens

Once you have your first chicken, you can upgrade the coop to hold more animals. Visit the carpenter's shop (south of your house) and talk to Robin. Select "Upgrade Farm Building" and choose your chicken coop. A full upgrade costs 450 gold, 150 wood, and 15 copper bars. The upgraded coop holds up to 8 chickens instead of 1.

You can also build a second coop instead of upgrading. A second coop costs the same as an upgrade but gives you a separate building to manage. Some players prefer multiple coops for organization. Each coop operates independently, so you can keep different chicken types or egg colors separated if you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a chicken coop before spring of year 1?

Yes, if you gather resources fast enough. You can chop wood when ready, and the mines open on the first day. Most players build a coop by mid-spring with steady mining and chopping. There is no time limit—you can build one whenever you have the resources.

What if I do not have a silo and my chicken runs out of hay?

The chicken becomes unhappy and stops laying eggs. You can still feed it by buying hay from Marnie for 50 gold per bundle, but this gets expensive quickly. Build a silo as soon as possible so you can store free hay from grass clippings.

Do I need to close the coop door at night?

Yes. If you leave the door open at night, wild animals can attack and kill your chickens. The door closes automatically at dusk if you do not close it manually, so you only need to worry if you manually open it and forget to close it again.

Can chickens die from starvation?

No. Chickens become unhappy and stop laying eggs if unfed, but they do not die from hunger. They can only die from wild animal attacks at night if the coop door is left open.

What is the difference between white, brown, and blue chickens?

Only appearance. All chickens lay the same eggs, eat the same food, and produce eggs at the same rate. Color is purely cosmetic, so choose whichever you prefer.