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Updated on August 12, 2022, by Anastasia Maillot: Stardew Valley’s adorable animals can make the player’s farm life a bit more interesting, and nothing is better than having blue chickens running around the farm. This rare type of chicken breed becomes accessible if players manage to become friends with the biggest grouch in Pelican Town: Shane. This guide has been updated with additional information regarding gifts that can be given to Shane, and a few key times when players can catch him to give him a gift. Additional tips about chickens after completing all his heart events have also been included to make getting blue chickens in Stardew Valley a much easier process.

Building a Coop

Starting with the basics, players will need to obtain a coop before they can own and raise any chickens in Stardew Valley. Speak to Robin about building a coop on the farm. She can be found at her house north of Pelican Town.

For a coop, players will need the following resources:

4,000 gold 300 wood 100 stone

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She will then ask the player to choose where on the farm to build the coop. It will take her three days to finish construction on the coop. White and brown chickens can then be purchased from Marnie. One chicken costs 800 gold. After buying chickens, make sure they have an outside area with plenty of grass to munch on. For a full tutorial on how to successfully manage a coop, check out this coop guide for Stardew Valley.

Befriending Shane

Befriending Shane may seem largely unrelated to the idea of obtaining a new variety of chicken, but it is a requirement for unlocking blue chickens. Blue chickens will become available to the player after they trigger Shane’s 8-heart event. In order to increase their relationship with Shane, players can gift him Loved and Liked gifts. Doing this on his birthday, Spring 20, will give players an even bigger friendship boost.

Shane’s Loved Gifts:

Pizza Hot Pepper Beer Pepper Poppers

Shane’s Liked Gifts:

All Fruits, but not Hot Pepper which is a Loved gift All Eggs, but not Void Eggs and Dinosaur Eggs All Universal Likes, but not Pickles

Gifts To Avoid With Shane:

Most foraged items Seaweed Quartz Universal Dislikes Universal Hates

One of the easiest ways to consistently increase the relationship with him is to head to the Stardrop Saloon in the evening, where he will come to drink after his shift at the JojaMart. Players can buy him a beer at the bar counter by speaking with Gus for the price of 400 gold. Gus also sells pizza for 600 gold for players who don’t mind splurging a bit. It’s also possible to catch Shane before his JojaMart shift, walking through Pelican Town, which makes him an easy target for friendship.

Shane’s Heart Events

These are the times and locations needed to activate Shane’s heart events when he reaches the respective heart level:

Two Hearts: Enter the forest south of the player farm from 8 pm to 12 am. Four Hearts: Enter Marnie’s ranch; the time of day doesn’t matter. Six Hearts: Enter the forest south of the player’s farm while it is raining between 9 am and 8 pm. Seven Hearts (Part 1): Enter Marnie’s Ranch when Shane is home after seeing the six-heart event. Seven Hearts (Part 2): Enter the town while it is sunny between 10 am and 4 pm. Clint and Emily must also have two hearts of affection each for this event to trigger. Eight Hearts: Enter Marnie’s Ranch whenever Shane is home.

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Getting Blue Chickens

Once Shane’s eight-heart event has been triggered, blue chickens will officially be available to the player. Players now have two options:

Buy blue chickens from Marnie: This is the guaranteed way of getting a blue chicken. When she asks the player to name the new chicken, there will be a notice at the top of the screen that says the color of the chicken being named. If it’s not blue, simply cancel the transaction and repeat until it says the chicken is blue. Hatch new chickens in the coop: Every new chicken hatched from a white or brown egg has a 25% chance of being blue. Players will need to upgrade to a Big Coop by speaking with Robin to start hatching via the Incubator. The Big Coop requires 10,000 gold, 400 wood, and 150 stone.

Blue chickens are functionally identical to white chickens as there are no blue eggs. They simply produce white eggs as a white chicken would. Blue chickens are mainly just for appearances and bragging rights, but they do look much more flashy compared to their white and brown counterparts. The apparent flashiness of owning a blue chicken may rival owning a Stardew Valley ostrich.

Stardew Valley is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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Source: Stardew Valley Wiki