Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Mariposan Cargo Chickens

A cramped cluster of live chickens — hens, a few smaller roosters, and scattered chicks — housed in makeshift pens of wire, wooden crates, and straw bales. Feathers cling to cramped corners; the air carries warm poultry musk, straw, and faint ammonia. They cluck, peck, and flutter nervously as children and refugees move past; crew members and Picard sidestep them while listening to oral histories, the birds adding tactile noise and domestic clutter to the cargo hold.
6 appearances

Purpose

Transported livestock intended for food, breeding, and basic agricultural use by the colonists; listed as cargo on the Mariposa manifest.

Significance

They function as an evocative socio‑economic detail and logistical complicant: the chickens humanize the Bringloidi refugees, emphasize the colony's agrarian material culture, and highlight the manifest's puzzling mix of primitive livestock and advanced electronics — a concrete clue that redirects Picard's investigation and reframes the colony's origins.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

6 moments
S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
From Curiosity to Command: Picard Seizes the Mariposa Lead

Mariposan cargo chickens are implied by the manifest livestock entry and invoked when Picard reads 'chickens'; they add texture to the manifest's pastoral dimension though they are not physically present in the ready room.

Before: Transported cargo on the Mariposa (per manifest).
After: Exist now as a mental image and investigatory detail only; their presence is a point of disbelief for Picard.
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S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
Detection, Ultimatum, and the Rush to Transport

Crates of chickens arrive with the refugees, their clucking and fluttering adding to sensory overload and making orderly transport and triage more difficult for O'Brien and the crew.

Before: Packed in makeshift pens and crates on the colony surface.
After: Present in the transporter room among refugees, contributing to noise, feathers and mess.
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S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
Evacuation Before Diplomacy

A cluster of transport‑manifest chickens is audible and implied in the background; they supply domestic noise that underscores the Bringloidi's cultural priorities and complicate rapid medical or quarantine procedures.

Before: Housed in makeshift pens/crates on the colony manifest awaiting transport.
After: Arrived with refugees aboard Enterprise; present in transporter room/cargo and contributing to sensory chaos.
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S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
Transporter Stampede: Bringloidi Barnyard Chaos

Mariposan cargo chickens arrive with the refugees, their clucking and fluttering intensifying sensory chaos; a hen is even coughed into a corridor, attracting Picard and Worf's attention and underscoring the unpreparedness of Starfleet for this culture's priorities.

Before: Housed in makeshift crates on the planet as part of the colony's provisions.
After: Loose and noisy aboard the transport platform and nearby corridors, challenging containment and sanitation.
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S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
Oral History and the 'Guard in Heaven' Revelation

Clusters of live chickens cluck and shift throughout the hold, contributing tactile domestic realism to the scene and underscoring the Bringloidi's agrarian identity and immediate material losses at stake.

Before: Cramped in makeshift pens within the cargo hold, in the possession of Bringloidi families on board the Enterprise.
After: Remain in the hold unchanged in condition, continuing to provide sensory backdrop and a reminder of the refugees' practical needs.
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S2E18 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — Up the Long Ladder
Guard in Heaven — Picard's Dual‑Colony Insight

The cluster of Mariposan cargo chickens punctuates the scene with domestic, tactile noise — clucks and shuffling straw — grounding the high-concept revelation in ordinary, human (and agrarian) stakes and reminding viewers what the refugees stand to lose.

Before: Housed in makeshift pens within the cargo hold, nervous but contained.
After: Remain in place, unchanged physically, continuing to contribute ambient sound and underscoring the refugees' practical concerns.
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