ManaLocke doesn't like to hunt, and he doesn't like to wade through expelled feathers. He does, however, enjoy the security of feathers for arrows, the taste of eggs in pies, and the smell of fried chicken. You should, too.

The Icarus Feather Farm generates all these and more, constantly. A plush carpeted hen house encourages chickens to lay eggs in a comfortable setting, and the eggs are silently removed without ever disturbing the mothers. These eggs are transferred to the incubation chamber, where they are hatched, and allowed to mature. When the last of their down is shed, and their meat is most tender, the hatchlings are cleanly, mercifully put to sleep, by mashing their heads in with a hydraulic press. Duct-work and mechanisms collect and process the remains, sorting feathers and carcass into their respective containers. The protein is stored fresh, but on-site ovens are provided for conversion to cooked rations.

Sadly, ease of access is not the farm's strong point. It can only be accessed from the surface, outside the safety of Locke's house. Suggested routes include taking the Nether to Locke's Labs and heading up and out, or heading to Mt. Paradox and leaving via the front door, following the road.

The farm generates eggs and raw chicken at a fairly reliable rate, and more feather than can reasonably be utilized by anyone not actively composed of arrow dispensers. Visitors are welcome to some eggs or chicken, and as much feather as they care to cart off.

Unfortunately, no suitable mechanism has been engineered to counter the mutant power of quantum-tunneling with which some chickens are born. As a result, free-roaming chickens may occasionally be seen outside the farm. Visitors to the farm are encouraged to harvest these renegades, to prevent their genes from empowering future fowl.

Closeup of Feather Farm, including Hen house (left), progress bar (top), and incubation chamber (right).

The feather farm relies on several interwoven technologies. An analog memory element can store a redstone signal and maintain its present power. This level is used for the progress gauge–on a clock pulse, the state advances once. The progress gauge is tapped directly to initiate events in the farm's machinery. Clock pulses are provided by compact redstone hopper-timer, (which can be calibrated in units of fifths of a second). The clock frequency and states are set such that the farm allows hatchlings to mature for twenty minutes–the maximum needed to ensure all inhabitants are fully grown.