Chickens

Chickens consist of roosters and hens. They hatch from, and lay, eggs. They are raised in a Chicken Coop and eat raw barley.

When an egg hatches into a chicken, it leaves behind a crushed eggshell in the coop. A chicken in a coop can be slaughtered to yield chicken meat.

Obtaining

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? The answer is both. Hens, roosters and eggs can all be discovered in the wild once Avian Selection has been learned.

• Hens can be found by searching Pale Pampas Grass plants (about 10% of the time).
• Roosters can be found by searching Dark Pampas Grass plants (about 1% of the time).
• Eggs will occasionally be found in trees while harvesting wood.

Additionally, chickens in a Chicken Coop will reproduce under the right circumstances.

Raising Chickens

(Full detail on the operation of Chicken Coops can be found on the Chicken Coop page.)

Hens, roosters and eggs can all be carried, but they will do nothing unless placed in a Chicken Coop. The temperature of the coop should be regulated at an optimal level, and hens and roosters should be kept fed with barley. Providing these conditions are met, chickens will breed as follows:

• A hen will lay one egg per day, provided there is either 1) a rooster present, or 2) no eggs presently in the coop. (In other words, if you have only hens, you will need to remove the eggs from the coop each day to keep them laying.) Hens prevent eggs from hatching, unless a rooster is also present.

• The presence of a rooster will keep hens laying even when there are eggs already in the coop. A rooster will also allow eggs to hatch in the presence of hens.

• Eggs, given favorable temperature conditions, will hatch if there are no hens present, or if both hens and roosters are present. Eggs hatch into hens 95% of the time and roosters 5% of the time.

Hens eat about 5 Barley each per game day. You can keep 20 Hens in a coop. Hens produce 1 egg each per game day. Roosters eat abut 20 Barley each per game day. Eggs hatch 1 Hen (95%) or 1 Rooster (5%) per game day. You can put up to 100 eggs in a coop, but only 20 of them will hatch. If a rooster hatches, you will only get Roosters that day, and usually just one Rooster. If you don't want to gather the eggs every day, you must have a rooster for continuous production.

When you put hens or eggs in an empty coop, there's a 24 hour wait before any eggs are laid or hatched. This is not correct for eggs, You can put eggs in at 5:30am and take out hens and eggs after 6:30 am. This is the no barley method of hatching eggs. -Aberdon

Hens will lay eggs, and eggs will hatch hens and roosters, at any temperature, but your odds are the best when the temperature is 60-100 degrees at 6:00 AM. The temperature behavior of a Chicken Coop changes each game day, at midnight. Setting the Chicken Coop slats to control the temperature is an important consideration if you are concerned about efficiency. Otherwise, just leave the Slats at half-open, and you'll still be OK most of the time.

Care and Feeding of Chickens

Chickens are kept in a Chicken Coop and need to be fed raw barley. Hens lay eggs and the eggs hatch to produce more hens and roosters. If the coop ever runs out of barley, the chickens will begin to starve. Hens eat about 5 Barley each per game day. You can keep 20 Hens in a coop. Hens produce 1 egg each per game day. Roosters eat abut 20 Barley each per game day. Eggs hatch 1 Hen (95%) or 1 Rooster (5%) per game day. You can put up to 100 eggs in a coop, but only 20 of them will hatch. If a rooster hatches, you will only get Roosters that day, and usually just one Rooster. If you don't want to gather the eggs every day, you must have a rooster for continuous production.

When you put hens or eggs in an empty coop, there's a 24 hour wait before any eggs are laid or hatched. This is not correct for eggs, You can put eggs in at 5:30am and take out hens and eggs after 6:30 am. This is the no barley method of hatching eggs. -Aberdon

Hens will lay eggs on their own if there are no eggs in the coop. Eggs will hatch on their own if there are no hens in the coop. Hens will lay eggs, and eggs will hatch hens and roosters, at any temperature, but your odds are the best when the temperature is 60-100 degrees at 6:00 AM. The temperature behavior of a Chicken Coop changes each game day, at midnight.

Setting the Chicken Coop Slats, to control the temperature, is an important consideration if you are concerned about efficiency. Otherwise, just leave the Slats at half-open, and you'll still be OK most of the time. Slats discusses how to precisely control the temperature in a Chicken Coop.