letting chicken out

[Venom]

so im new-ish at this game and just got a coop. there is a small door at the coop where you can let the chickens out (ive plonked gated fence around the coop) .. but the questions is whats the point in doing that ?

[fippmeister]

Chickens (and animals in general) gain more hearts from eating fresh grass outside than from eating hay.

[NotThatHarkness]

They'll go outside if it's not raining or winter and eat any grass you have. Grass will grow back and it saves you from manually feeding the chickens hay. Also, the hay per grass ratio is lower than the fed chicken per grass ratio. So it's better to have them feed on grass directly instead of cutting it down to fill the silo.

It also might make for happier chickens (i.e. faster to get hearts with them) but I haven't exactly tested it.

[vernicom]

Who lets the chickens out?? Cloo cloo cloo cloo clooo.

[Virus]

Can you leave them out overnight?

[fippmeister]

Originally posted by Virus:

Can you leave them out overnight?

They go back inside on their own in the evening. It's best to get them inside and close the door, since they often refuse to lay eggs if there's a draft.

[Venom]

wow the responses are very fast .. thanks guys

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by Virus:

Can you leave them out overnight?

You can, but they leave pretty early if the door is open. That makes it a bit harder to track them down to pet them every day.