Catching pheasants is only the first step; the key is how to raise them.

Lin Feng didn't want these precious sources of protein and feathers to fly away so easily.

He used the "tough vine" rope he had brought to simply tie the pheasants' feet together, then found a thick tree branch, hung them upside down in pairs on the branch, and carried them back to the cabin.

Back in the cabin, his first task was to solve the chicken coop problem.

He chose a slightly elevated and relatively dry spot next to the wooden house to begin building the chicken coop.

He used leftover timber from previous logging operations and some newly cut, thinner tree trunks as the frame for the chicken coop.

The walls were woven from intertwined branches for sturdiness, with a mixture of dry grass and mud filling the gaps to enhance their shelter from wind and rain. The roof was covered with large slabs of bark and thatch, secured with stones.

Inside the chicken coop, he built several perches using smooth wooden planks for the chickens to roost in at night. The ground was covered with a layer of dry sand and finely chopped hay to make cleaning chicken droppings easier.

He also fired several shallow feeding troughs and water troughs out of clay.

To prevent small predators from disturbing the chicken coop at night, he wove "protective nets" of fine branches for the doors and vents.

After the chicken coop was built, Lin Feng began to process the pheasants.

Lin Feng picked up a rooster, stroked its feathers soothingly, and then took out a sharp stone from his tools.

He grabbed one of the chicken's wings, spread it out, and carefully examined the primary and secondary wing feathers. He knew he couldn't cut too deep and damage the wing's blood vessels; he mainly cut off about one-third to one-half of the tips of the flight feathers to disrupt its balance and lift during flight.

"Crack, crack." The sound of a stone shard scraping against a feather rang out.

The pheasant struggled desperately, letting out terrified cries.

Lin Feng moved as gently and quickly as possible, cutting off one wing before moving on to the other.

He treated each pheasant the same way. He carefully collected the clipped feathers, which would be excellent material for making mattresses.

The pheasants, their wings clipped, looked rather dejected. After being placed in the coop, they huddled in a corner, looking around in fear at the unfamiliar environment and the "two-legged creature" before them.

Lin Feng put some golden fox rice and some chopped wild vegetable leaves into the feeding trough, and filled the water trough with clean stream water.

He didn't disturb them too much, but simply observed them quietly from a distance.

At first, the pheasants were very wary and dared not approach the feeding trough.

By evening, hunger had overcome fear, and only one or two bolder pheasants began to tentatively peck at the golden fox rice. With one taking the lead, the other pheasants gradually followed suit and began to eat.

Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they started eating, it meant there was a possibility of domestication.

Over the next few days, Lin Feng regularly fed and watered the pheasants and cleaned the chicken coop.

He tried to minimize direct contact to avoid startling them. He discovered that although these pheasants were wild and untamed, they were indeed particularly fond of golden fox rice.

With a stable source of feathers (though not much at present, but promising for the future), Lin Feng's mattress manufacturing plan has officially entered the implementation stage.

He soaked the large animal hides in the stream to soften them.

Then, he carefully scraped away the remaining fat and membranes on the inside of the hide with a stone slab, a process known as "scraping the flesh to remove fat".

Next comes "degreasing": he repeatedly rubs and soaks the scraped animal hides in wood ash water to remove the oil inside the hides, making the leather easier to absorb tanning agents and softer.

To increase the durability and anti-corrosion and insect-proof properties of the hides, he also carried out a smoking process.

He dug a shallow pit, lit some slowly burning rotten wood and the branches and leaves of specific aromatic plants, producing thick smoke. He then hung the half-tanned hides above the smoke to smoke them. The aldehydes in the smoke further solidified the tanning process.

Next, Lin Feng selected the largest and most complete piece of tanned animal hide and, according to the size of his bed, used a sharp obsidian blade to cut it into two rectangles.

He began to sew the two pieces of animal hide together using bone needles (made from ground animal bones with holes drilled in the tail) and fine thread twisted from "tough vines".

He used a fine overlock stitch to ensure the seams were secure. He first sewed three sides together, leaving one side open as a filling opening.

To prevent the filling from shifting, he sewed several large compartments, creating multiple "filling compartments," on the inside of the mattress using thin strips of tanned animal hide. This undoubtedly increased his workload, but he was pursuing ultimate comfort.

Then, he carefully mixed the collected plant fibers and feathers evenly and filled them into the "filler" layer by layer.

As he filled the filling, he gently patted and pressed it with his hands to ensure that the filling was evenly distributed and fluffy.

After all the "filling chambers" were filled to the appropriate thickness, he carefully sewed up the last opening with bone needles and resilient vine thread.

A thick, full-bodied primitive mattress, exuding the fragrance of leather and a faint scent of herbs, is finally complete!

It didn't look as neat and beautiful as a modern mattress, but when Lin Feng pressed it with his hand, its amazing elasticity and soft touch brought a satisfied smile to his face.

That night, Lin Feng laid the newly made mattress on his bed frame, which he had built from wooden planks. He even used a leftover piece of soft animal hide to sew a simple "pillow" filled with a few feathers.

He took off his animal skin coat and lay down on it with a little excitement.

"Hmm!"

A satisfied hum escaped Lin Feng's lips.

His body instantly sank into the clouds, every inch of his skin gently supported.

The tanned animal hide exterior has a warm, smooth feel, while the fluffy feathers and plant fibers inside provide unparalleled softness and a sense of envelopment. The bottom layer of hay and the internal partitions provide just the right amount of support, preventing you from sinking in completely.

The fatigue from a day's work is absorbed by this soft mattress at this moment.

He closed his eyes, feeling an unprecedented sense of comfort and relaxation.

Lin Feng's days of raising chickens were smoother than he had expected, but they were also full of trivial details.

For the first few days, the pheasants whose flight feathers had been clipped were still in shock, huddled in the corner of the henhouse, extremely wary of Lin Feng's approach.

Lin Feng wasn't in a hurry. He regularly provided water and food—mainly Golden Fox Rice, occasionally mixed with grass seeds that he had specially collected that pheasants loved to eat and chopped tender wild vegetable leaves.

Wangcai showed great interest in these new "neighbors," often lying outside the chicken coop, curiously watching the movements inside, and occasionally letting out a few low whimpers, as if to greet them, which scared the pheasants inside quite a bit.

The Phantom ignored these noisy creatures, preferring to quietly lie under the eaves of the wooden house or on Lin Feng's shoulder, elegantly grooming its beautiful blue-purple fur.

After about a week, the pheasants gradually adapted to life in the chicken coop.

Hunger is the best teacher; they began to boldly venture out of the corner and peck at the food Lin Feng had thrown out. The lead rooster remained vigilant, but was no longer as easily startled as before.

The hens, on the other hand, were more docile. They would cautiously observe Lin Feng before burying their heads in their food.

Lin Feng noticed that although these pheasants were kept in captivity, they still retained their wild nature. They would dig holes in the sandy soil of the chicken coop for "sand baths" to clean parasites from their feathers. They would also engage in brief pecking fights over a plump grain of golden fox rice.

The rooster, at dawn and dusk, will raise its head and puff out a loud crowing to announce its presence.

"It seems that it will take time to completely turn them into docile domestic chickens," Lin Feng thought to himself.

The biggest surprise came around the tenth day of captivity.

That morning, Lin Feng went to the chicken coop to feed the chickens as usual. In the corner of the hay, he was pleasantly surprised to find a small, light brown egg with faint spots!

"It laid an egg!"

Lin Feng was overjoyed and carefully picked up the egg, which still retained the warmth of the hen's body.

Although this egg is smaller than the eggs in modern supermarkets, it represents something extraordinary. It means that his protein sources will be more stable and diverse.

He took the precious egg back to the cabin, filled a ceramic bowl with water, and gently cracked the egg into the bowl. The yolk was an enticing orange-yellow, much deeper in color than the domesticated eggs he remembered, and the egg white was also much thicker.

He didn't have any fancy cooking tools, so the simplest way was to boil or bake. He thought for a moment and decided to poach an egg in an earthenware pot.

The fire was lit, and the water in the earthenware pot quickly boiled. Lin Feng slowly poured the well-beaten egg mixture into the boiling water, watching it solidify and swirl rapidly, releasing a faint egg aroma.

Soon, a slightly irregularly shaped but very appetizing poached egg was ready.

Lin Feng scooped it out and sprinkled it with a little coarse salt.

He couldn't wait to take a bite.

"Hmm!"

A rich, wildly fragrant aroma filled his mouth. The yolk was sandy and creamy, while the egg white was bouncy and smooth. This taste was purer and more delicious than any egg he had ever eaten in his previous life.

"That's fantastic!" Lin Feng exclaimed sincerely.

This first egg greatly encouraged Lin Feng.

He began to take even better care of the pheasants. He would deliberately catch insects and earthworms as "snacks" to supplement their protein intake. He would also plant some wild vegetables that the pheasants loved to eat around the chicken coop.

As time went on, the hens became more and more accustomed to the life of being kept in captivity, and their egg-laying frequency gradually stabilized. Although it wasn't every day, Lin Feng could always find a few fresh wild eggs in the henhouse every few days.

He cooked or roasted some of the eggs directly, while consciously saving the rest to try and hatch them into chicks when the weather warmed up, thus expanding the flock. After all, with only three roosters and five hens, the feather production was still too limited.

Every morning, collecting eggs from the henhouse has become a daily routine that Lin Feng looks forward to.

Looking at those round, plump eggs, brimming with life, his heart was filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

With eggs, his breakfasts became much more substantial. Roasted meat, wild fruits, and a fragrant poached or roasted egg gave him plenty of energy before starting a hard day's work.

However, while enjoying the delicious taste of the eggs, Lin Feng also felt a slight regret.

"If only I had an iron pot..."

He watched the scrambled eggs struggling to be stirred in the earthenware pot, constantly worried about them sticking to the pot or heating unevenly, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

While pottery solved the problem of having or not having pottery, it was still vastly different from ironware in terms of thermal conductivity, durability, and versatility in cooking.

He missed the rich aroma of stir-frying in an iron wok, the even and lasting heat of stewing meat in an iron wok, the clean and crisp cutting of meat with an iron knife, and the unstoppable force of chopping firewood with an iron axe.

Once this idea took root in Lin Feng's mind, it grew wildly like weeds on a wasteland.

"We must find a way to smelt iron!"

Lin Feng's eyes hardened.

He knew that the difficulty of iron smelting was far greater than that of pottery making and glassmaking.

That requires higher temperatures, more complex processes, and a more precise understanding of the materials.

But his indomitable spirit and strong desire to improve his quality of life led him to decide to take on this challenge.

Of course, his first priority was to find iron ore, especially hematite with extremely high purity.

Lin Feng began a thorough search of the area within his activity range.

After several days of fruitless efforts, he did not lose heart.