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.

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.