Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland/Animal Husbandry

Chickens
You won't start with any chickens, but you'll have a chicken coup already equipped with an incubator.

You have two choices for getting a first chicken: buying an egg from the Supermarket for 50G and putting it in the incubator, or buying an adult chicken from Brownie Farm's Shop for 500G. Considering a chicken will lay an egg to fill the incubator a day after you purchase it, the latter is a better option if you have enough funds.


 * You can buy chicken feed from Brownie Farm's shop for 10G a serving. If the chickens are kept indoors, you'll have to feed them daily, or they could get sick.
 * Chickens lay an egg everyday (unless they're sick), which can be sold in town. If they're happy enough, you might find Golden Eggs, which sell for more money.
 * Letting chickens outside to graze lets you save on feed, and the sun makes them happier too.
 * Sick chickens must be treated with Animal Medicine, or they will die. Even though a new chicken and medicine sell for the same price at Brownie Farm, it's best to opt for the medicine.  If you buy a new chicken, time spent making the old chicken happy will be wasted, and dead animals decreases your final happiness rating at the end of the game.
 * You can check if a chicken is happy or sick by holding one and pressing ((psx|select}}, or by checking the status in your diary.
 * It takes four days for the incubator to hatch an egg, and five days for a chick to grow up.
 * The coup can hold a maximum of six chickens.

Cows
Cows are potentially the most profitable portion of your farm, but Brownie Farm sells them for 2500G a pop, and they only sell calves. Once you have a Cow, you can use Brownie's C.M. Potion to make her pregnant. Pregnancy is a little cheaper and the calf is a little happier than if you bought it, but a pregnant cow can't produce milk, so you'll be losing money.


 * You can buy cow fodder from Brownie Farm's shop, or you can go out into your own pasture and cut some down with your scythe. The prior costs G, while the latter costs Energy, so decide which is more important to conserve at this point on your farm.  In either case, be sure to fill each cow's trough with fodder, if you're going to keep them indoors for the day.
 * You must use a Milker to get milk a cows. One of these can be purchased from the Tool Shop for 1800G.
 * Cows produce Milk (S) by default, Milk (M) when they're feeling better, Milk (L) when they're happy, and Milk (G) when they're happiest. Each higher rank of milk sells for more money.
 * Cows are happier when you talk to them, brush, them, and milk them daily. You can buy a Brush from the Tool Shop for 300G.
 * Cows are made happier if they are let out into the pasture. This also saves money/energy otherwise spent on cow fodder for their troughs, as the cows can just eat grass directly from the pasture.
 * Keep at least one portion of Animal Medicine in your inventory in case a cow gets sick. Like chickens, they might get sick if you don't feed them, leave them out overnight, or leave them in the rain.
 * You can check how happy a cow is, or if it's sick, by talking to it. Sick cows may also appear slumped over or lethargic.
 * It takes ten days for a pregnant cow to give birth, and another ten days for a calf to reach adulthood.
 * Don't wait until nightfall to push or rally Cows back into the barn. They might fall asleep, and don't like being woken up.