Stardew valley has a new bug that causes chickens to disappear. Eric Barone explains it away by claiming invisible coyotes steal them.

Stardew Valley’s big 1.6 update has finally arrived on consoles and mobile. But creator Eric Barone surprised everyone by releasing yet another update, Stardew Valley 1.6.7, which includes a new array of fixes, tweaks and updates, as well as some Stardew lore, including wild coyotes.

Barone wrote: "PSA: There is currently a problem, if you open the animal doors on the coop on day one of a new farm at the Meadowlands Farm and your chickens disappear," "If you close the door for a day, they should be saved." We will fix it.

"Lore: A wild coyote was seen on the farm for the first time"

It's not in the strictest sense but I love how Barone transforms a bug into an awesome feature by waving his hand and saying "environmental storytelling" with a deep voice. Not entirely seriously of course, but if Barone continues to roll, I wouldn't be surprised to see wild wolves added to the game when the inevitable Stardew valley 1.7 update comes out in spring 2025.

(For the record I am not aware that any actual Stardew 1.7.1 update is in the works but I made this prediction in March and will not back down.)

I'm not alone in thinking it would be a great idea:

Yeah, we're never getting Haunted Chocolatier.