Barn animals are some of the best sources of money in Stardew Valley. They produce items like milk and eggs that you can sell to make a profit. However, if you do not tend to their needs then these animals become unhappy. In this article, we will go over what makes your chickens in Stardew Valley grumpy. What can you do to counter this? And more so read along.
Chickens in Stardew Valley become grumpy if they are not well-fed. They need a constant supply of either Grass or Hay. You should also be petting them now and then to build a friendship. In winter, Chickens will be stuck in the coop so you need to have a Heater in there and food readily available so that they don’t get grumpy.
Chickens in Stardew Valley
Chickens will be amongst the first animals that you keep on your farm in Stardew Valley. You can buy chickens from Marnie’s Ranch for 800g or you can place an egg in the Incubator and hatch your chickens, although this is a time-consuming process. It takes around 3 days for a baby chick to grow into a full-grown chicken.
An average chicken produces eggs of different sizes, varieties, and rarities depending on their happiness level. In the table below you can see the types of eggs and how much they can be sold for:
| Name | Description | Sell Price |
|---|---|---|
| Egg Brown Egg | A regular white chicken egg. A regular brown chicken egg. |  50g 62g 75g 100g |
| Large Egg Large Brown Egg | It’s an uncommonly large white egg! It’s an uncommonly large brown egg! |  95g118g142g190g |
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Chicken Happiness
A big part of having chickens is their happiness level. You can see this by interacting with them and the thought bubble that pops up will either display a heart if you have given them enough care, or a grumpy (squiggly lines) status if you have neglected the needs of the chicken.
Happy chickens will lay better-quality eggs that can be sold for higher prices. And if you have ignored these chickens for too long then worse things can happen like death.
Grumpy Chickens
There might be a couple of reasons why your chickens are grumpy. These reasons can be:
- You haven’t fed your chickens.
- Your chickens are stuck inside the coop.
- You haven’t shown enough love to your chickens i.e. petted them.
- In Winter, chickens might be feeling cold or hungry while being stuck inside the coop.
We will address how you can tackle each aforementioned problem below.
Build a Coop
To have happy cluckers on your farm, you need to first invest in a Coop. Chickens require a coop to lay eggs and generally call home. Every day at 5 pm, chickens will return to the coop for their daily rest, and not having a coop will result in them being homeless or even prone to predator attacks.
Also, the door to the coop should never be closed before all the chickens have gone in. If any of the birds stayed or slept outside during the night then they become grumpy. The easiest way to counter it is by letting the door open at all times so the chickens can come and go at their pleasure. Only close the door during winter.
Chickens will also need a coop in winter. In the cold weather, chickens won’t leave the coop and will stay inside for the season to pass. Hence, having a coop is of utmost necessity for chicken farming naturally.
Be sure to put up a fence around the coop so that your chickens can roam safely. Otherwise, they can either wander off or get eaten by some predator.
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Chicken Food – Grass or Hay
Chickens need to be fed regularly/daily so that they don’t get grumpy or worse, become thin and die. Their primary food source is Grass and dried up Hay.
Grass
You can plant grass inside the fence by using the Grass Starter item. This item will place a patch of grass on the ground and spread to become a field. Chickens feed on this fresh grass at a surprising rate so you might be running out of it soon.
Another drawback of relying on grass exclusively for chicken feed is that it doesn’t grow in the winter season. So when the feed runs out in the cold weather and your chickens are all cooped up, they will turn grumpy from hunger.
For these reasons, you need to work towards harvesting Hay.
Hay
Hay is harvested by using a Scythe and cutting Grass or Wheat. It is only harvested when you have constructed a Silo on the farm. Silo too is necessary for storing this item for times when you are running low on Grass to feed chickens or when the winters arrive and grass has stopped growing, you can use the stored hay to feed the chicken.
There will be a trough inside the coop that should be refilled constantly with hay by you. This will make sure that your chickens will always have a steady supply of food. You can even add an Auto-feeder to fill the trough automatically but be sure to keep replenishing your silo for this.
If you have kept your chickens properly fed using any of the upper mentioned food then they will not get grumpy. If they don’t get food for even a single day then the chickens’ moods will take a huge hit. So make sure to provide food to chickens as this is the most important factor for their happiness.
Winter
Winter is a gloomy time for animals as they are stuck inside their homes for the season. They cannot move freely outside, they cannot go out to forage, and they are suffering from the cold weather. This isolation impacts their mood quite a lot so you have to counter it with some actions.
As previously pointed out, you need to have the trough inside the coop always filled with hay. Never let the food supply run dry or these poor birds will suffer.
Another important thing for the winter is you need to place a Heater inside the coop to keep the chickens warm. You can buy it from Marnie’s Ranch for 2000g. This will ensure that these animals will stay toasty inside their homes.
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Petting Chickens
A bit of love goes a long way. Even after feeding them and giving them a home, chickens do require a personal touch of love. Now and then, or better yet daily, make a habit of going up to each chicken and petting them. This will boost their love and happiness toward you. You’ll know you’ve petted the chicken when a little heart appears above their heads.
This practice is extra beneficial in winter when they are already feeling low. On top of the heater, a warm heart is the next best source of comfort for these feathery freaks.
Chickens are kind of essential to the whole farm life of Stardew Valley. They are beneficial for trading and making money while also feeling the vibe of tending to your poultry. If you keep the things we mentioned above in check then your chicken will be happy and you will be swimming in high-grade eggs.