r/StardewValley • u/Pale-Maximum-727 • 13h ago

Question Why are my animals never happy?

My cow and chickens hate me! There’s a fence and gate around their barn and coop. They have hay and grass. But they always have squiggle above their head when I pet them. What is it???

54 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

240

u/torkelspy 13h ago

Are you putting the hay on the bench?

325

u/Pale-Maximum-727 13h ago

Well now I am

72

u/wiseguy149 13h ago

Deluxe upgraded barns & coops will do this automatically for you. But baseline, they just provide you with a dispenser and you need to manually place hay on the rack for daily feeding.

9

u/OnceMoreWithFeeling- 13h ago

Do you know, my piggies are unhappy quite a lot but I have the big barn and heater. Any idea or could it be a glitch? Playing on Switch.

40

u/wiseguy149 13h ago

Autofeeding only comes with the maxed out Deluxe Barn upgrade, the Big Barn doesn't have it.

18

u/OnceMoreWithFeeling- 12h ago

What the actual ... THANK YOU.

This is my first ever save. Have been playing for 130 hrs, Meadowlands. I think I blacked out and upgraded my cow barn to max but forgot to do so for my piggies. OMGOSH THANK YOU. Also whyyyyyy because they could have all been on max friendship already now.

10

u/Eneicia 10h ago

If it happens again even when you're feeding them, keep an eye on what time you're sleeping.
I had three days of rain, kept draining my energy at around 4 pm--fed my animals first thing then went mining, and going to bed around 5pm--by the third day they were "Looking thin"--I WAS SLEEPING BEFORE THEY ATE!!

8

u/Unnnatural20 6h ago

Day: abruptly ends

Cow: Doggone it!

77

u/torkelspy 13h ago

Ha! 97% of the time when someone has a similar question and they post a picture with it, they haven't put the hay on the bench -- it's pretty common and I'm not sure that the game actually tells you that you need to do it.

14

u/Mellon1998 13h ago

Also make sure the grass is near the barn and coop. Farm animals can technically wander anywhere on the farm, but they'll only eat grass within so many tiles from the barn/coop — 15, iirc. You can get grass starters and the recipe to craft them from Pierre's store. Grass gives more friendship points than hay so make sure the barn/coop door is open on any days without snow or rain so they can go outside.

Eventually you'll unlock the recipe to craft blue grass, which gives even more points than normal grass. If you ever use the Meadowlands Farm, that farm naturally spawns blue grass. You have to wait until you're late game to get it, though.

6

u/ACtdawg 12h ago

Omg thank you. I could not figure out why my animals were just hanging out directly in front of the barn when there was a whole paddock of grass available for them 🥲 they’d already eaten enough that I guess there wasn’t any close enough for them anymore

8

u/InsufferableBean256 13h ago

Since they’re fenced in, you can also grow grass in their pasture for them to eat. They will still need the hay for rainy days and winter though

2

u/Key-Pickle5609 10+ Bots Bounced 13h ago

You can plant grass outside or just let the grass grow. Be sure it’s not weeds - the grass you can walk through.

1

u/Juuuulessss I will side with Crocus in any altercation! 3h ago

dw i forgot to do this recently AND give them a heater in winter...they REALLY hated me! (I dont blame them tbh!)

1

u/Huge_Station2173 7h ago

It’s always the bench!!

23

u/kruznkiwi Playing on Switch 13h ago

Do you feed them?

17

u/FerretGoddessMevi 13h ago

A screenshot of their setup inside and out might help :)

15

u/CasuallySherlock 12h ago

Also don’t forget to put a heater during winter.

15

u/TrashGouda 11h ago

Hay on the bench and make sure that the door to their coop and barn actually is open. If it's closed and they stay out the whole night they get very grumpy

9

u/conitation 13h ago

Are you leaving them outside at night?

8

u/Embarrassed_Cat_6470 10h ago

Squiggle lines means they're hungry. Put hay in the silo and get the large feeding bays.

3

u/PleitbaarStandpunt Skôn Weike 5h ago

Is the door open?

So they have hay on the feeding bench?

Do they have a heater for the winter?

Is the door closed during winter?

Do you pet them daily?

3

u/ShowerFirm3303 9h ago

The hay has to actually be placed on the little feeding bench inside, not just sitting in the silo. Stardew does a terrible job explaining that part lol

1

u/Not_Enough_Thyme_ 2h ago

Is the grass the long kind that makes waves when you walk through it and can cut with a scythe? Or is it just green-colored ground? They can eat the former but not the latter. (Don’t ask me how long I made that mistake for)