Chickfowl (3.5e Monster)

Chickfowl
Chickfowl are domesticated, farmed birds incapable of sustained flight. A male chickfowl is called a chickchook and a female is called a chickhen. Chickfowl young are called hatchlings or cheechicks.

Skills and Saves
A chickfowl's 4 skill points (for being a 1 HD animal) are split between its Jump and Listen skills. A chickfowl gains a +2 racial bonus to Spot and Survival as well as a +6 racial bonus to Jump and Listen. These bonuses are represented in the stat block above. A chickfowl uses its Dexterity modifier in place of Strength when making Jump checks.

A chickfowl has good Fortitude and Reflex saves. A chickfowl suffers a −2 racial penalty on Will saves against fear effects.

Strategies and Tactics
Chickfowl generally won't attack unless provoked or desperate, and then it's usually the chickchooks when defending their harems. Their pecks and scratches are just powerful enough to be threatening to commoners. If forced to flee, they'll hop and jump, attempting to retreat to elevated positions if possible.

Chickfowl encountered in the wild congregate in broods of 6-12 (2d4+4) adults (including an advanced chickchook). In the spring and midsummer, the chickhens tend to four times as many in the group in cheechicks.

Ecology
Many farmers jest that "The chickchook runs the ranch" as their alertness, bossy attitude and crepuscular crowing keep everyone else in check and on schedule. While generally skittish, chickfowl can become agitated and aggressive, posing a threat to their keepers. Handlers are often careful to wear heavy leather gear when moving chickfowl. Many captive-raised chickfowl are docile and tamed. Occasionally chickchooks are raised for fighting and gambling as a source of entertainment. Some chickfowl are kept as pets and trained to make various sounds on command. Chickfowl naturally possess a wide variety of vocalizations ranging from crows and caws to warbles and trills.

Young chickfowl are kept as a source of meat and chickhens as providers of eggs. Adult chickchooks are kept for breeding and as watchguards. Their alert nature makes them ideal at making lots of noise whenever they see or hear anything out of the ordinary in their territory.

Any town that has chickfowl likely has its own breed. Years of breeding in captivity has led to a multitude of different appearances and temperaments of chickfowl. Some chickfowl are poofy with white feathers while others might be red or black or mottled with fanning tail feathers. Captive-bred chickhens lay an egg on average once a day in the warm months and roughly once every few days or fewer in the colder months when food is scarcer. They subsist on food scraps, grasses, plants, berries, nuts, bugs and virtually anything else small enough to eat that they happen upon. Captive chickfowl live about 4-8 (2d3+2) years while in the wild, due to predation, they are much less likely to live into old age.

Wild chickfowl are generally found only in warm and temperate climates in forests and scrublands. They tend toward a nomadic lifestyle with enough range to gather food, settling down only to raise nests of cheechicks.

Though their sizes vary greatly depending on breed, an average Tiny-sized chickfowl roughly weighs 4 lbs. while Small-sized breeds weigh around 32 lbs.

A Tiny-sized chickfowl can be traded as a commodity and is worth 2 cp.

Chickfowl Familiars
Chickfowl make adequate familiars and are often found among poor or rural spellcasters. They may be selected as starter familiars. A chickfowl's master may reroll his Initiative roll once after rolling but before combat order is determined, though at a −4 penalty, taking the second result.