The coop is an important part of the Stardew Valley gameplay and is necessary for housing an assortment of animals that help your farm make a profit. As you develop and grow your farm, you can expand from planting crops to raising animals, one of these being chickens. The eggs the chickens provide can be sold, used in a recipe, or gifted to one of the characters. Since the chicken coop is cheaper than a barn, it is a great first step in farm building.
How to Build A Chicken Coop
The coop is available to purchase from Robin’s Carpenter’s Shop, located north of Pelican Town. It is open from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. every day except on Tuesdays. To buy a chicken coop, you need 4000 gold, 300 wood, and 150 stone. The required building materials can be gathered from the trees and stones around your farm, using an ax and pickaxe respectively.
Once purchased, it takes 3 in-game days for construction to be completed. With the chicken coop finished after the third day, you have free rein to decorate the area around or add a fence to surround it. At this level, the coop can only house up to four chickens at a time, but this can be upgraded as you continue to grow your farm.
These upgrades include the Big Coop and the Deluxe Coop. The Big Coop upgrade gives you a larger size coop, where you can house up to 8 animals at a time. With it comes an incubator that allows you to make your own egg hatching. In addition to regular chickens, you now have the opportunity to house:
- Golden Chickens
- Void Chickens
- Dinosaurs
- Ducks
This gives you the chance to obtain void eggs, duck eggs, dinosaur eggs, or a golden egg.
After the Big Coop, you can further upgrade to the Deluxe Coop, which gives you the chance to house 12 animals at a time, with the new addition of rabbits. This upgrade also introduces an Auto Feed system that automatically feeds the animals in your coop as long as there’s hay within a silo on your farm.
| Coop | Big Coop | Deluxe Coop | |
| Cost | 4,000g | 10,000g | 20,000g |
| Wood | 300  | 400 | 500 |
| Stone | 100  | 150 | 200 |
| Animal Count | 4 | 8 | 12 |
How to Use The Chicken Coop
Now that you have a brand new coop, the first thing you need to do is buy chickens. The adult chickens can be purchased from Marnie’s Ranch located directly south of your farm. Although the ranch is accessible every day from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Marnie is only available in the shop from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. every day except for Mondays and Tuesdays. Once bought, you’ll be given the option to name your chicken before it’s automatically placed in your coop.
Like any animal, chickens need to be fed to lay eggs and stay happy. When your farm is in its early stages, the conventional method for feeding your chickens is with hay. Hay can be purchased from Marnie’s Ranch for 50 gold per bundle. With the hay, you can place it on the Feeding Bench located at the back of the coop. Each chicken eats one hay per day, so make sure to constantly check and refill the bench. The only exception to this rule is the first day you buy the chicken or on festival days.
Another way to feed your chickens is by allowing them to roam about your farm when there is grass present. Grass is present for every season of the year except for Winter. You can let your chickens roam the farm by opening the coop door. When it gets close to dark, you don’t need to worry about gathering up your roaming chickens, as they automatically return to the coop at 5 P.M. as long as the door is still open.
Making a Profit with the Chicken Coop
As long as a chicken is fed, it will lay one white or brown egg by the next day. These eggs can be sold for 50 gold each. Petting the chickens and raising their friendship will raise the quality of these eggs, increasing its sold price. When your friendship with the chicken is high enough, it will lay a large white or brown egg, which can be sold for 95 gold. The quality of the large egg can also be increased to as high as 190 gold. In addition, if you have already made the Mayonnaise Machine, you can turn the eggs or large eggs into artisan goods, such as mayonnaise, to be sold for 190 gold.
| Normal Quality Sell Price | Silver Quality Sell Price | Gold Quality Sell Price | Iridium Quality Sell Price | |
| White/Brown Egg | 50g | 62g  | 75g  | 100g  |
| White/Brown Egg w/Rancher (+20%) | 60g | 74g | 90g | 120g |
| Large White/Brown Egg | 95g | 118g | 142g | 190g |
| Large White/Brown Egg w/Rancher (+20%) | 114g | 141g | 170g | 228g |
| Mayonnaise | 190g | 237g | 285g | 380g |
| Mayonnaise w/Rancher (+20%) | 228g | 284g | 342g | 456g |
| Mayonnaise w/Artisan (+40%) | 266g | 331g | 399g | 532g |
Although there are recipes that can be made using the chicken egg, such as Fried Egg, Omelet, and Pancakes, it’s best to save the food for yourself to replenish your energy. Typically, the components necessary for creating the recipe sell higher on their own individually. An example of this is a Fried Egg selling for 35 gold in comparison to an egg selling for 50 gold.
You also have the opportunity to gift the egg to the characters to increase their affection for you. All gift-able characters like chicken eggs, except for Harvey and Sandy.
