How much cash do you start with in Run A Farm?

$200, according to the opening of the OTTER EXTENDED run recorded on 8 November 2026.

How many hens fit in the first coop?

Eight. The coop panel reads 6/8 with a + HEN button, so the panel counts hens against a cap.

Run A Farm Beginner Guide: First Coop to First $1,000

What the game gives you at the start

You spawn on your farm with COOP 1, $200 cash on the top bar, and two tools. Slot 1 holds a hand tool marked x2, slot 2 holds shears marked x10, and slots 3 through 5 are locked. The top bar shows HOME, your funds, and two +10% bonus bars. On the left sit SHOP with an orange gift icon and SETTINGS with a blue gear. On the right sits QUESTS.

Your bottom left HUD displays two counters: BAG 33/50 beside an EMPTY button, and STAND 0/40 with an egg icon. The 33 in that reading is how full the bag was in the frame, not a starting allowance: the second number is the cap, 50. The stand reading is 0 of 40. Before working your fields, check Run A Farm codes for RELEASE. The listing describes that code as free cash, and run footage records a player receiving $500 from it, though redemption was not captured on screen.

Four actions for your first ten minutes

Follow these four actions in order:

Collect eggs from COOP 1. Open the coop panel. The screen shows 6/8 hens, a rate of 2/s, and a button marked + HEN $107. Pick up loose eggs until your bag approaches 50 items.
Restock your roadside stand. Move eggs from your bag into the stand. The counter climbs toward STAND 0/40. Customers walking past buy eggs automatically, converting stock into cash.
Take the quest cards. The QUESTS panel on the right lists the cards with their progress and their cash reward. The opening set we could read includes Deliver 50 Wheat for $100, Buy 3 hens for $15, and Collect 90 eggs for $125. A finished card announces itself with a toast such as Quest complete! Claim your $100.
Ride your bike to the town warehouse. Mount the bicycle using W and S to drive, A and D to steer, and SPACE to hop off. Load your harvested wheat, pedal to town, and deliver it. The toast Sold 50 crops at the warehouse for $100! confirms your payout at $2 per crop.

What quest cards pay and why hen cards underpay

Quest cards give immediate cash, but unit payouts differ across tasks. Field harvest cards and egg collection cards pay reliable profits, while poultry cards return little cash.

Quest objective	Target amount	Cash reward	Unit payout
`Buy 3 hens`	3 hens	$15	$5.00 per hen
`Buy 2 hens`	2 hens	$95	$47.50 per hen
`Harvest 70 Wheat`	70 wheat	$70	$1.00 per crop
`Deliver 50 Wheat`	50 wheat	$100	$2.00 per crop
`Deliver 325 Wheat`	325 wheat	$650	$2.00 per crop
`Harvest 425 Wheat`	425 wheat	$425	$1.00 per crop
`Harvest 350 Corn`	350 corn	$2,100	$6.00 per crop
`Collect 90 eggs`	90 eggs	$125	$1.39 per egg
`Collect 500 eggs`	500 eggs	$1,300	$2.60 per egg
`Sell 675 eggs`	675 eggs	$3,100	$4.59 per egg

The card Buy 3 hens awards $15, which is $5 per hen. A single hen at your starter coop costs $107 via + HEN $107. Buying three hens costs over $300, so completing that card results in a net cash loss if you buy birds only for the reward. Later, Buy 2 hens pays $95, or $47.50 per hen, which is still below cost. Treat hen cards as small rebates on birds you already need. Never buy hens just to clear a card. Focus your quest time on crops, where Deliver 50 Wheat pays $100 on top of warehouse sales.

The first inventory wall

The first wall occurs when your bag hits 50 items and your stand hits 40 eggs. At BAG 33/50, harvesting one plot fills the remaining 17 slots. Once full, you cannot gather eggs or cut wheat. Tapping EMPTY deletes inventory for zero cash.

Your stand also fills up fast. The coop panel showed a 2/s rate next to 6/8 hens, so at that rate forty eggs is about twenty seconds of production if none of them sell. When the stand is full, a red FULL bar appears on the coop panel; we did not confirm whether production stops there or only the sale stops.

The EMPTY button beside the bag is the one control to leave alone. We did not capture what it does to the goods, and a full bag is worth $100 at the town warehouse, so ride to town instead of clearing it on the farm.

How to get past the limits

To break through opening limits, maximize your coop and upgrade the counter:

Fill COOP 1. The panel counts hens against a cap of 8, and the + HEN button prices the next bird at $107. Two birds is $214, more than the $200 you start with, so the second one waits for your first sale.
Upgrade the stand counter. Once delivery cash arrives, take the stand upgrade: the game announces Bigger Counter: The stand holds 150, and the HUD counter moves from 40 to 150.
Track rising poultry prices. Later coops cost more per bird. COOP 1 sells hens at + HEN $107, while COOP 3 displays + HEN $150.
Haul manually until automation unlocks. Later stages offer automated workers at the FARM OFFICE and town stalls like SEED MARKET. Until your stand holds 150 eggs, handle egg transfers and bike runs yourself.

Your next spending decision

Once your first coop sits at 8/8 hens and your stand holds 150 eggs, your production loop runs steadily. You have regular egg sales and cash from warehouse wheat deliveries. At that point, choose whether to expand to BAG 0/100, purchase customer decor, or open new plots. Check our guide on what to buy first for the exact spending order.