Valheim chicken coop
Chickens inside a small coop in Valheim Valheim

KEY POINTS

  • Chickens must be hatched from eggs instead of tamed from the wild
  • Eggs are sold by Haldor after beating Yagluth
  • Eggs must be dropped near a campfire before they can grow

Raising animals is an excellent way to keep food stores in "Valheim" stocked with a wide variety of ingredients. This has been made even wider in the "Mistlands" update after the game added a new form of livestock: chickens.

Most of "Valheim's" best food recipes need multiple ingredients, and these aren't always easy to come by. Chickens are especially peculiar as they don't appear in the game world like the rest of the animals. Here's where to find them.

Where to get "Valheim" chickens

Instead of hunting down wild hens and roosters, players need to pay the dwarven merchant Haldor a visit. He is typically located in a Black Forest biome on a random island somewhere near the center of any randomly-generated map.

Haldor received a small update in the "Mistlands" update. By default, his stock is now much smaller at the beginning, and it will gradually grow bigger as bosses are beaten. He will sell chicken eggs to players, but only after Yagluth, the boss of the Plains biome, has been taken down.

This shop change also applies to previously-explored maps. Players who want to start a fresh run with a good starting farm may buy eggs from Haldor in a different world before.

Valheim eggs
Eggs must be kept warm near a campfire or else they won't hatch Valheim
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Raising Chickens

After buying their first batch of eggs, players will need to build a small chicken coop. A simple 2x2 box with roofs on one side is enough for this to count, but make sure to place a campfire nearby.

Once everything is in place, drop the chicken eggs onto the coop and make sure they are close enough to the fire. Hover the crosshair over the eggs to see if they are warm or not.

After this, wait for one in-game day. Chicks will hatch from the eggs and begin roaming around the coop. Then, wait for one more in-game day until they mature into full-grown chickens.

Like other livestock, they will eventually begin to multiply. The eggs they lay can either be used as food, as ingredients for complex recipes or simply left alone so they can grow into more chickens. However, players need to feed them seeds so they don't die. Any type of seed from trees or vegetables will suffice.

Valheim chicks
Eggs will eventually hatch into young chicks if they are near a cmapfire Valheim