Fine Feathered Friend is an animated Tom and Jerry short released on October 10th, 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby.

This episode takes place in a stable where the starring indigo cat and brown mouse apparently live. The usual shenanigans between the two occur, though now adapted to the context of a rural setting (including the presence of a hen who is overprotective towards her eggs).

Tropes:

• Ambiguous Situation: A bit. While it’s implied that Tom was put on guard duty after the hen attacked him for cutting off her back feathers, the episode never actually confirms this. It’s just as possible he’s only watching the henhouse to figure out a new way to get Jerry. Either way, it’s obvious Tom isn’t done with the mouse—but the episode ends before we find out what his next move would be.
• Baby's First Words: "MAMA!!", said by the newborn chick Tom accidentally kidnaps in his attempt to grab Jerry (who's disguising as one). The mother hen reaches the scene immediately, ready to give Tom hell.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Hence why Tom has to resort to sneakier tactics against the hen—she pretty much attacks him relentlessly. Throughout the short, she proves again and again that in a straight fight, Tom doesn’t stand a chance (since she attacks him before he can react), forcing him to rely on trickery just to get anywhere.
• Determinator: Twofold example in this short. The hen pretty much refuses to let anything stop her from protecting her eggs and chicks. And as per usual, Tom is the same as he doesn't let the hen attacking him or pecking him multiple times stop him from trying to get to Jerry. Even by the end of the episode, despite having all his fur cut off and his tail injured by the hen, he is still planning to get Jerry. However this leads to Tom falling into...
• Detrimental Determination: As per usual, this is Tom’s Fatal Flaw. No matter how many injuries he suffers, and despite it being made clear that it’s nearly impossible to get Jerry because of the hen, he keeps trying anyway. His increasingly desperate schemes only make him look worse in her eyes.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: Once again, Tom only makes himself look more like the bad guy. Every increasingly desperate tactic he uses to get the mouse just digs the hole deeper, reinforcing the hen’s belief that he’s up to no good and practically guaranteeing she’ll come after him even harder next time.
• Farm Episode: The short sees Tom chasing Jerry in a stable located in a barn, while dealing with an overprotective hen who is watching over her eggs.
• Feathered Fiend: Played with. The hen isn't evil, but due to being overprotective towards her eggs (and eventual chicks) she'll react violently over Tom whenever he approaches her due to thinking he wants to steal said eggs (he's only looking for Jerry). Admittedly, Tom's methods to try to capture Jerry don't help, and after a certain point he stops caring about what she thinks of him because she's already a detriment for his prospects on grabbing the mouse anyway.
• Implacable Man: Hen, more like it. Nothing—and no one—is going to stop her from protecting her eggs, no matter how many schemes Tom throws at her.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Downplayed, since the hen isn’t a jerk or evil—she’s just extremely overprotective of her eggs. But because Tom keeps escalating his increasingly terrible schemes to catch Jerry, he ends up looking more and more like he’s actually trying to steal her eggs. From her perspective, she has every right to be aggressive toward him, especially as his tactics get more desperate and suspicious.
• Mistaken for Thief: The hen pecks Tom repeatedly for this reason. The first time, Jerry hides beneath her and Tom puts his paw to try to grab him, but the hen wakes up and thinks Tom is trying to steal her eggs. The second time is similar, except the hen gives Tom a Death Glare before he even tries to use his paw again, and goes on to peck him like before. In yet another instance, Jerry makes Tom grab one of the eggs and then kicks the hen to wake her up and add to the framing. The most blatant instance is when Tom jabs the hen in the rear to drive her away and then look among the eggs... for Jerry; this only reinforces the misunderstanding, but by that point Tom doesn't care because he's determined to catch the mouse no matter what.
• Mobile Shrubbery: Halfway through the episode, Tom sneakily approaches the sleeping hen while using a wooden butter churner as a cover. This is because the hen thinks Tom is after her eggs (he's only after Jerry), and approaching her as himself would get him pecked.
• Mama Bear: The hen is very protective towards her eggs, and is just as protective towards the newborn chicks after the hatch.
• Mouse Trap: Two are used over the course of the episode. With the first, Jerry tries to get a piece of cheese that is obviously attached to it; he actually falls into it, though only his tail is stuck, so he can still run away from an eager Tom (who was watching him from the distance), dragging trap included. The second trap is placed by Tom inside a sleeping hen, and it's tied to a thin rope so Tom can pull it as soon as Jerry is captured; this time, however, Jerry wises up and pushes the trap into Tom's tail, who screams in pain as soon as he sees what just happened.
• No Ending: Sorta. While the episode ends with Jerry and the hen resting peacefully—and Tom seemingly forced into the role of standing guard over her and her chicks—it’s pretty clear he’s not actually done trying to get Jerry. The story cuts off before we see what Tom’s next move would even be, leaving his inevitable follow‑up scheme hanging in the air.
• Not Helping Your Case: Tom’s tactics do absolutely nothing to make him look innocent—in fact, they make him look exactly like a thief to the hen. Every new scheme he pulls just reinforces her belief that he’s after her eggs, turning her suspicion into full‑blown hostility.
• Off with His Head!: Attempted twice by Jerry when he stops next to a pair of huge scissors and then waits until Tom approaches his head onto him. However, in both cases Tom is quick enough to move back to dodge the cut.
• Pain to the Ass: Tom jabs the hen's rear with a fork so he quickly looks for Jerry while checking the nest's eggs. He does it again right after hiding beneath a butter churner; however, the third attempt doesn't work because the hen realizes what's going on and feigns having been jabbed again just to catch him in flagante, leading to her grabbing the fork to jab him repeatedly.
• Rage Breaking Point: For the most part, the hen is content with simply chasing Tom off, smacking him around until he leaves, or giving him some quick retribution when he attacks her eggs—then going right back to minding her own business. But the moment Tom snips off her tail feathers, she snaps. In response, she goes full fury mode and shears every bit of fur off his tail, making it very clear he crossed a line he should never have gone near.
• Runs with Scissors: During the climax of the episode, Tom grabs the scissors Jerry tried to behead him with beforehand and chases him while trying to cut him to death with them. The chase continues as they run through the barnyard, where Tom accidentally ends up cutting almost all feathers from the nearby hen's butt.^note (He then cuts the last one to pretend the hen's butt looks prettier if it's completely bald). The hen gets furious at him and proceeds to shave his whole tail (including the surroundings), and then forces him to stand guard during that day's night, ending the episode.
• Unwitting Pawn: The hen never finds out she's being used by Jerry for protection, that or she doesn't really care as Jerry is seen resting on her at the end of episode.
• Volumetric Mouth: The baby chick Tom accidentally abducts. MAMA!