Chicken

Chicken

Type	Animal
Building	Coop
Price	800g
Produce	Egg; Brown Egg; Large Egg; Large Brown Egg

The Chicken is the usual first step into animal farming. It lives in the basic Coop, and Marnie sells chicks for less than any other animal at her ranch. A fed and happy adult lays an egg on the Coop floor each morning. Those eggs turn into Mayonnaise, go into a long list of recipes and fill several Community Center bundles. Chickens come in white, brown and blue, and the colour decides which egg each bird lays. Once the Big Coop adds an Incubator, any spare egg can hatch into a new chick, so a small flock can grow for free.

The in-game description reads: Well cared-for adult chickens lay eggs every day. Lives in the coop.

Care

Robin builds the Coop at the Carpenter's Shop. Each chicken eats one portion of food a day. On a sunny day, opening the little door lets the flock wander out and peck at the grass. Fresh grass counts as the day's meal and puts the birds in their best mood. On days indoors they eat Hay from the feeding bench instead. A Silo stores Hay cut from grass, and the Hay Hopper beside the bench hands it out. Until the Deluxe Coop adds an automatic feeder, the Hay goes onto the bench by hand. A hungry chicken never dies, but it stops laying until meals start again.

The birds head home around 6pm. Closing the door before the last one is inside leaves it stuck outside for the night. A stranded chicken wakes up grumpy, and a wild animal may even carry it off for good. The flock stays indoors on rainy days and through all of Winter. Filling the Silo before Fall ends keeps the Coop fed until Spring.

Petting each chicken once a day matters more than anything else. It raises friendship, which builds up to five hearts over time, and it lifts the bird's mood for the day. A chicken that goes unpetted slowly loses friendship. In Winter, a Heater in the Coop keeps spirits up through the cold evenings. Marnie sells the Heater, and finishing the Fodder Bundle also gives one. The Auto-Petter can take over the daily rounds once the flock grows large.

Produce

A grown chicken lays one egg a day as long as it has eaten. White and blue chickens lay white Eggs, while brown chickens lay Brown Eggs. Both colours sell for the same price. A well-loved and cheerful chicken sometimes lays a Large Egg instead, worth almost twice as much. Good friendship and mood also raise the odds of silver, gold and iridium eggs.

Putting an egg into a Mayonnaise Machine makes a jar of Mayonnaise in a few hours. A normal egg becomes Mayonnaise worth nearly four times the raw egg. A Large Egg always makes gold-quality Mayonnaise. The machine ignores the egg's own star rating, so plain eggs gain the most from processing. The Rancher profession raises the price of raw eggs by a fifth. The Artisan profession raises Mayonnaise by two fifths, so processing pays even better with it.

Eggs have plenty of uses besides selling. Cooking an Egg makes a Fried Egg, and cooking one with Milk makes an Omelet. Eggs also go into Pancakes, Cookies and several cakes. Mayonnaise in turn goes into Coleslaw and Fish Tacos. A Large Egg or Large Brown Egg counts towards the Animal Bundle in the Pantry, which rewards a Cheese Press. Gus sometimes posts "Gus' Famous Omelet" on the Special Orders board and asks for a big batch of eggs of any kind.

Buying

Marnie sells chickens at Marnie's Ranch once a Coop stands on the farm. Each chick gets a random colour, white or brown at first. The colour appears in the message that asks which Coop to place the bird in. Backing out at that point returns to the shop, so the roll can be repeated until the wanted colour comes up.

Blue chickens join the mix after Shane's 8-heart event. In that scene, Shane shows off his secret flock of blue hens and his favourite white chicken, Charlie. From then on, each chick bought from Marnie has a one-in-four chance to be blue. Blue is purely a looks choice, and blue hens lay ordinary white eggs.

Hatching is the cheap way to grow the flock. Placing a white Egg in the Incubator gives a white chick, and a Brown Egg gives a brown one. Blue chicks only come from Marnie. The Coopmaster profession halves the hatching time. A new chick starts laying after three days of regular meals.

A chicken at full friendship sells back for a little more than it cost. Selling one frees a space in the Coop for another animal.

Notes

A chicken repays its price quickly. At base prices, its eggs cover the chick's cost in a little over two weeks. Turning every egg into Mayonnaise shortens that to about four days.

A Golden Animal Cracker doubles a chicken's daily eggs for the rest of its life.

The Void Chicken and the Golden Chicken are separate breeds that hatch from their own eggs. Both need at least a Big Coop.

All Animals

Every entry in this group, with its key details.

Name	Image	Building	Price	Produce
Chicken		Coop	800g	Egg; Brown Egg; Large Egg; Large Brown Egg
Cow		Barn	1500g	Milk; Large Milk
Dinosaur		Big Coop	-	Dinosaur Egg
Duck		Big Coop	1200g	Duck Egg; Duck Feather
Dusty	-	-	-	-
Goat		Big Barn	4000g	Goat Milk; Large Goat Milk
Golden Chicken		Big Coop	-	Golden Egg
Ostrich		Barn	-	Ostrich Egg
Pig		Deluxe Barn	16000g	Truffle
Rabbit		Deluxe Coop	8000g	Rabbit's Foot; Wool
Sheep		Deluxe Barn	8000g	Wool
Void Chicken		Big Coop	-	Void Egg