Chicken
| Health points |
4HP |
|---|---|
| Behavior |
Passive |
| Mob type | |
| Hitbox size |
In Java Edition: |
| Speed |
0.25 |
| Spawn |
|
| Usable items |
{
"title": "Chicken",
"rows": [
{
"field": "4<span class=\"hidden-alt-text\">HP</span><span class=\"nowrap mc-hearts\"><span class=\"iconbar pixel-image nowrap\" style=\"--icon-offset:-1px;\" title=\"2 hearts\">(link to File:Heart (icon).png article, displayed as 9px|link=|alt=♥)(link to File:Heart (icon).png article, displayed as 9px|link=|alt=♥)</span></span>",
"label": "(link to Health article, displayed as Health points)"
},
{
"field": "Passive",
"label": "Behavior"
},
{
"field": "(link to Animal article, displayed as Animal)",
"label": "(link to Mob article, displayed as Mob) type"
},
{
"field": "'''In (link to Java Edition article, displayed as ''Java Edition''):'''<br>\n'''Adult:'''<br>Height: 0.7 blocks<br>Width: 0.4 blocks<br>\n'''Baby:'''<br>Height: 0.35 blocks<br>Width: 0.2 blocks<br>\n'''In (link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as ''Bedrock Edition''):'''<br>\n'''Adult:'''<br>Height: 0.8 blocks<br>Width: 0.6 blocks<br>\n'''Baby:'''<br>Height: 0.4 blocks<br>Width: 0.3 blocks",
"label": "(link to Hitbox article, displayed as Hitbox size)"
},
{
"field": "0.25",
"label": "(link to Attribute#movementSpeed article, displayed as Speed)"
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{
"field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
"label": "(link to Mob spawning article, displayed as Spawn)"
},
{
"field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
"label": "Usable items"
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],
"invimages": [
"Chicken Spawn Egg"
],
"images": [
"Chicken JE2 BE2.png",
"Baby Chicken JE2 BE2.png",
"Chicken Jockey.png",
"Cold Chicken.png",
"Baby Cold Chicken.png",
"Cold Chicken Jockey.png",
"Warm Chicken.png",
"Baby Warm Chicken.png",
"Warm Chicken Jockey.png"
]
}
A chicken is a passive mob found in most grassy biomes, and the main source of raw chicken, feathers and eggs. They have three variants based on the temperature of the biome they spawn in.
Spawning
Chickens spawn naturally in the Overworld in most grassy biomes except snowy plains, meadows, cherry groves, mangrove swamps, and pale gardens.
Each chicken has a 5% chance of spawning as a baby.
In Java Edition, chickens spawn in groups of 4 on grass blocks at a light level of 9 or higher. Individual chickens rarely may spawn after world generation.
In Bedrock Edition, chickens spawn in groups of 2-4 on grass blocks at a light level of 7 or higher. Individuals regularly spawn after world generation.
In Java Edition, chickens are more common in sparse jungles.
In Java Edition, chickens may be found in the Nether when a baby zombified piglin spawns as a chicken jockey. This can also happen with every other baby variant of the zombie.
| Category: Creature | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spawn area | Spawn weight | Spawn Chance | Group size | Spawn weight | Group size |
| 20⁄58 | 34.48% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄40 | 25% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄40 | 25% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄40 | 25% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄44 | 22.73% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄45 | 22.22% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄45 | 22.22% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄45 | 22.22% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄45 | 22.22% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 20⁄91 | 21.98% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄46 | 21.74% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄46 | 21.74% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄46 | 21.74% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄46 | 21.74% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄48 | 20.83% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄50 | 20% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄52 | 19.23% | 4 | 10 | 4 | |
| 10⁄52 | 19.23% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄60 | 16.67% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄60 | 16.67% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄60 | 16.67% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄60 | 16.67% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 10⁄68 | 14.71% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
| 20⁄170 | 11.76% | 4 | 10 | 2–4 | |
Variants
Chickens have 3 variants: temperate, cold, and warm. The variant is determined by the biome the chicken spawns in.
| Natural spawning | ||
|---|---|---|
| Other[variants 1] | ||
- ↑ When a chicken is spawned as part of a chicken jockey, or summoned using a spawn egg or commands.
If a chicken is spawned via spawn egg, command or jockey in any biome not listed, a temperate chicken is spawned.
Chicken jockey
Java Edition
All baby zombie variants and baby zombified piglins have a 5% chance to check for an existing chicken within a 10×6×10 box centered on the baby's spawn location and spawn riding one of those chickens if there are any. If it fails that 5% chance, there is an additional 5% chance of the baby zombie spawning mounted on a new adult chicken. If a jockey spawns riding a new chicken, the variant of the chicken depends on the biome it spawns in.
Because a baby zombie occurs from 5% of zombie spawns, the chicken jockey spawns consist of 0.2375% of all zombie spawns in a chicken-free environment; if chickens are present, the chance increases to 0.4875%. A chicken jockey can also be spawned by using the following command:
/summon minecraft:chicken ~ ~ ~ {IsChickenJockey:1b,Passengers:[{id:"minecraft:zombie",IsBaby:1b}]}
Chicken jockeys may spawn with items equipped. Baby zombified piglin versions of the chicken jockey always wield a golden sword. Harming or killing the chicken does not cause the zombified piglin to attack.
Bedrock Edition
Baby zombie jockeys do not spawn riding chickens, but check for nearby adult chickens to mount prior to attacking a player, wandering trader, adult villager, snow golem, or iron golem.
Drops
Adult chickens that were not part of chicken jockeys lay an egg every five to ten minutes.
Breeding
1–7XP experience orbs upon a successful breeding.
On death
| Item | Quantity / Chance / Average | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||||||||||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 100.00% | 1.00 | 1–2 | 100.00% | 1.50 | 1–3 | 100.00% | 2.00 | 1–4 | 100.00% | 2.50 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 100.00% | 1.00 | 1–2 | 100.00% | 1.50 | 1–3 | 100.00% | 2.00 | 1–4 | 100.00% | 2.50 | |
| Feather | 0–2 | 66.67% | 1.00 | 0–3 | 83.33% | 1.50 | 0–4 | 91.67% | 2.00 | 0–5 | 94.44% | 2.50 | |
| Item | Quantity / Chance / Average | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||||||||||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | 1 | 3⁄2 | 1–3 | 1 | 2 | 1–4 | 1 | 5⁄2 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | 1 | 3⁄2 | 1–3 | 1 | 2 | 1–4 | 1 | 5⁄2 | |
| Feather | 0–2 | 2⁄3 | 1 | 0–3 | 5⁄6 | 3⁄2 | 0–4 | 11⁄12 | 2 | 0–5 | 17⁄18 | 5⁄2 | |
| Item | Amount | Probability | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | |||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 1 (100.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 3⁄2 (1.50) | 2 (2.00) | 5⁄2 (2.50) | ||
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 1 (100.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 3⁄2 (1.50) | 2 (2.00) | 5⁄2 (2.50) | ||
| Feather | 0 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | 1⁄12 (8.33%) | 1⁄18 (5.56%) | |
| 1 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| 2 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 5⁄18 (27.78%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 5⁄18 (27.78%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄12 (8.33%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄18 (5.56%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 3⁄2 (1.50) | 2 (2.00) | 5⁄2 (2.50) | ||
| Killed | 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Expected Drop | ||||
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 | |
| Feather | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 | |
- ↑ Only when not on fire and not killed with a weapon enchanted with Fire Aspect.
- ↑ Only when on fire or killed with a weapon enchanted with Fire Aspect.
| Item | Quantity / Chance / Average | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||||||||||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 100.00% | 1.00 | 1–2 | 100.00% | 1.50 | 1–3 | 100.00% | 2.00 | 1–4 | 100.00% | 2.50 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 100.00% | 1.00 | 1–2 | 100.00% | 1.50 | 1–3 | 100.00% | 2.00 | 1–4 | 100.00% | 2.50 | |
| Feather | 0–2 | 66.67% | 1.00 | 0–3 | 66.67% | 1.33 | 0–4 | 66.67% | 1.67 | 0–5 | 66.67% | 2.00 | |
| Item | Quantity / Chance / Average | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||||||||||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | 1 | 3⁄2 | 1–3 | 1 | 2 | 1–4 | 1 | 5⁄2 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | 1 | 3⁄2 | 1–3 | 1 | 2 | 1–4 | 1 | 5⁄2 | |
| Feather | 0–2 | 2⁄3 | 1 | 0–3 | 2⁄3 | 4⁄3 | 0–4 | 2⁄3 | 5⁄3 | 0–5 | 2⁄3 | 2 | |
| Item | Amount | Probability | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | |||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1 | 1 (100.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 3⁄2 (1.50) | 2 (2.00) | 5⁄2 (2.50) | ||
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1 | 1 (100.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | |
| 2 | 0 | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄2 (50.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 3⁄2 (1.50) | 2 (2.00) | 5⁄2 (2.50) | ||
| Feather | 0 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | |
| 1 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | 1⁄12 (8.33%) | 1⁄18 (5.56%) | ||
| 2 | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄3 (33.33%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | 1⁄4 (25.00%) | 2⁄9 (22.22%) | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄12 (8.33%) | 1⁄6 (16.67%) | ||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1⁄18 (5.56%) | ||
| Average | 1 (1.00) | 4⁄3 (1.33) | 5⁄3 (1.67) | 2 (2.00) | ||
| Killed | 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Expected Drop | ||||
| Default | Looting I | Looting II | Looting III | ||
| Raw Chicken[A] | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 | |
| Cooked Chicken[B] | 1.00 | 1.50 | 2.00 | 2.50 | |
| Feather | 1.00 | 1.33 | 1.67 | 2.00 | |
1–3XP experience orbs are dropped when a chicken is killed by a player or tamed wolf or 10XP if it was part of a chicken jockey.
Killing a baby chicken yields no items or experience.
Behavior
A chicken normally wanders aimlessly when idle. Sometimes they remain in a small area, even if it's just a 1 block space. They follow players holding various seeds within a 6×4×6 cubic area. Baby chickens follow adult chickens.

Chickens avoid falling off cliffs (>3.5 blocks). They flap their wings when they are in midair and fall slowly, thus chickens are immune to fall damage.
Chickens can be attached to leads.
When harmed, chickens flee around for a few seconds.
Unlike other mobs, chickens attempt to jump up to climb stairs instead of climbing them normally.[1]
Ocelots, untamed cats, and foxes pursue and attack chickens.
While in a loaded chunk, an adult chicken lays an egg every five to ten minutes (6000–12000 ticks), unless it is, or was, a part of a chicken jockey. If the player is close enough to a chicken when it lays an egg, a pop sound is heard.
Chickens can stay underwater for 15 seconds or can swim, visibly flapping their wings and staying on the water surface. While swimming, a chicken needs only one block of air above its head.
Breeding
Chickens follow players holding wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, torchflower seeds, or pitcher pods but will stop following when separated from the player by at least 10 blocks / 16 blocks. Additionally, baby chickens follow adults.
A player can breed chickens by using seeds. After breeding, a baby chicken spawns and 1–7 experience is generated. The parents cannot be bred again for 5 minutes. The variant of the offspring is inherited from one of the parents and does not depend on the biome they are bred in.

Baby chickens take 24000 ticks (20 minutes) to grow up, but the growth time can be accelerated using seeds. Each use takes 10% off the remaining time to grow up. A baby chicken fed a seed once per second grows up in approximately 48 seconds using 47 seeds.
Baby chickens are smaller than a half-block and can unwillingly pass through openings smaller than a full block, but do not walk through half-block-tall spaces. A baby chicken riding a minecart cannot be hit because it is completely inside the minecart's hitbox.
Eggs
Chickens are the only Overworld mob that can repopulate without breeding. Adult chickens lay eggs every 5-10 minutes and an egg thrown at the ground by a player or a dispenser has a 1⁄8 chance of spawning a baby chicken. If a baby chicken spawns from a thrown egg, there is a further 1⁄32 chance to spawn three extra baby chickens, or 1⁄256 overall. It is theoretically possible for a stack of 16 eggs to yield 64 chickens if all spawn chances succeed for all eggs.
Different variants of chickens lay different types of eggs:
Temperate chickens lay regular eggs
Warm chickens lay brown eggs
Cold chickens lay blue eggs
If the player throws an egg at a glass pane, the baby chicken can spawn on the far side of the pane.
Sounds
Java Edition:
Chickens use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
| Sounds | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
| Chicken clucks | Friendly Mobs | Randomly | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Chicken dies | Friendly Mobs | When a chicken dies | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Chicken hurts | Friendly Mobs | When a chicken is damaged | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Chicken plops | Friendly Mobs | When a chicken lays an egg | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Friendly Mobs | While a chicken is walking | entity | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | Randomly | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a chicken dies | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a chicken is damaged | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a chicken lays an egg | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | While a chicken is walking | mob | 0.25 | 1.0 | |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Entity tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
chicken | dismounts_underwaterfall_damage_immune | entity |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
chicken | 10 | entity |
Entity data
Chickens have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.
- [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed see Template:Nbt inherit/breedable/template
- Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
- Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template
- [Int] EggLayTime: Number of ticks until the chicken lays its egg. Laying occurs at 0 and this timer gets reset to a new random value between 6000 and 12000.
- [Boolean] IsChickenJockey: 1 or 0 (true/false) - Whether or not the chicken is a jockey for a baby zombie. If true, the chicken can naturally despawn, drops 10 experience upon death instead of 1-3 and cannot lay eggs. Baby zombies can still control a ridden chicken even if this is set false.
- [String] variant: The variant of the chicken.
Chicken variants
Chicken variants can be configured using JSON files within a data pack in the path data/<namespace>/chicken_variant.
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | ||||||
| It Spreads | Kill a mob next to a catalyst | — | 10 | Bronze | |||
| Overkill | Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit. | Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall. | 30 | Bronze | |||
| Over-Overkill | Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace | Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall. | 20 | Silver | |||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) |
|---|---|---|---|
![]() | A Throwaway Joke | Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea. | Hit a mob with a thrown trident. |
![]() | Adventure | Adventure, exploration and combat | Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity. |
![]() | Arbalistic | Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot | This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed. |
![]() | It Spreads | Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst | Kill one of these 73 mobs near a sculk catalyst:
|
![]() | Over-Overkill | Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace | Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall. |
![]() | Take Aim | Shoot something with an Arrow | Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. |
![]() | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed two animals together | Breed a pair of any of these 26 mobs:
|
![]() | Two by Two | Breed all the animals! |
Videos
History
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.14 | |||||||
| Chickens fall more slowly than other mobs and have a flapping animation, but still take fall damage on landing. | |||||||
| v1.0.17 | Chickens are now immune to fall damage. | ||||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||||
| 1.0 | Eggs are now throwable, with a chance to spawn a chicken on impact. | ||||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Chickens now drop raw chicken, and if killed on fire it drops cooked chicken. | |||||
| Chickens now run away when attacked. | |||||||
| Java Edition | |||||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2 | Chickens can now be bred using wheat. | |||||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | |||||||
| RC1 | Thrown eggs can now hatch baby chickens. | ||||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w04a | Ocelots now attack chickens. | |||||
| 12w07a | Chickens now have new AI to avoid hazards. | ||||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w36a | Chickens now use wheat seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds and nether wart instead of wheat to breed. | |||||
| 12w38a | Added new step sounds for chickens. | ||||||
| 1.6.1 | 13w16a | Added leads, which can be used to leash chickens. | |||||
| 1.7.4 | 13w49a | Added chicken jockeys — baby zombies spawned riding adult chickens. | |||||
| Chickens can now spawn in The Nether, as zombie pigmen also have a jockey variation. | |||||||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Baby chicken growth can now be accelerated using seeds. | |||||
| 14w33c | Baby chickens can now swim. | ||||||
| 14w34d | Chickens can no longer be bred using melon seeds, pumpkin seeds or nether wart. | ||||||
| 1.9 | 15w31a | Chickens can now be led and bred using melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, and beetroot seeds, in addition to regular seeds. | |||||
| 15w43a | Chickens can now drop several raw/cooked chicken, if killed with a Looting-enchanted weapon. | ||||||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Chickens no longer spawn in ice plains. | |||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | A texture has been added under the chicken's head, which changes the texture from | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||||
| 19w07a | Added foxes, which pursue and kill chickens. | ||||||
| 1.15 | 19w37a | 5% of chickens now spawn as babies. | |||||
| 1.19.4 Experiment | 1.19.4 Pre-release 1 | Chickens can now be fed using torchflower seeds.[3] | |||||
| 1.20 | 15w31a | Chickens can now be fed using pitcher pods. | |||||
| 1.21.5 | 25w02a | Chickens can now spawn in wooded badlands. Technically, they are also allowed to spawn in badlands and eroded badlands, but cannot spawn there naturally as these biomes do not generate grass blocks. | |||||
| 25w06a | |||||||
| The original chicken variant is now considered temperate. | |||||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
| v0.3.0 | |||||||
| v0.6.0 | Baby chickens now spawn naturally. | ||||||
| v0.7.0 | Chickens now lay eggs and have a 1 in 8 chance to spawn a baby chicken and a 1 in 254 chance for an egg to hatch 4 chickens. | ||||||
| v0.8.0 | build 1 | Baby chickens can now be spawned by throwing eggs. | |||||
| Chickens now follow players holding wheat seeds, but cannot be fed yet. | |||||||
| build 4 | Chickens can be fed wheat seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, or beetroot seeds to enter love mode and breed. | ||||||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | Chickens now spawn in small groups. | |||||
| v0.9.2 | The health of chickens has been reduced from 8HP to 4HP. | ||||||
| v0.10.0 | build 4 | Chickens no longer have a black texture on their chin due to the texture being missing, which changes the appearance from | |||||
| v0.11.0 | build 1 | Added chicken jockeys — baby zombies or baby zombie pigmen spawn riding chickens. | |||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Added ocelots, which attack chickens. | |||||
| Chickens can now drop several raw/cooked chicken, if killed with a Looting-enchanted weapon. | |||||||
| v0.14.0 | build 1 | Baby zombie jockeys no longer spawn riding chickens, but check for nearby adult chickens to mount prior to attacking a player, villager, snow golem, or iron golem. | |||||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Baby husks can now mount adult chickens. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.1 | Added foxes, which attack chickens. | |||||
| 1.18.30 | Preview 1.18.20.28 | Chickens no longer spawn in snowy taigas. | |||||
| Release | Reverted the chicken spawning change made in Preview 1.18.20.28. | ||||||
| 1.21.70 Experiment | Preview 1.21.70.20 | ||||||
| 1.21.70 | Preview 1.21.70.23 | All features behind the "Drop 1 2025" experimental toggle have now been fully implemented. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | |
| TU5 | Chickens now run away when attacked. | ||||||
| TU7 | |||||||
| Chickens can now be bred using seeds. | |||||||
| TU14 | 1.04 | Using a chicken spawn egg, baby chickens can now be spawned by using | |||||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Added chicken jockeys — baby zombies spawned riding adult chickens. | |
| Chickens can now spawn in The Nether, as zombie pigmen also have a jockey variation. | |||||||
| Baby chicken growth can now be accelerated using seeds. | |||||||
| ? | CU44 | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.0.4 | A texture has been added under the chicken's head, which changes the appearance from |
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||||
-
An automatic chicken farm.
Data history
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID has been changed from Chicken to chicken. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Numeric IDs for entities were presumably deprecated in this version. | |||||
| 1.21.5 | 25w06a | Added the variant data to the chicken. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Chicken" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- When a chicken is killed off a ledge, the corpse also falls more slowly than normal and the wings continue flapping.
- Chickens can "hide" within hoppers due to their small size, which protects them from dangers like lava on top of the hopper.
- A few weeks before the end of Java Edition Beta, Notch tweeted that he changed the chickens to ducks,[4] causing a turmoil on Twitter. A few days later, Jeb, still getting feedback on the idea, stated that it was just a joke.[5]
- The changelog for Pocket Edition v0.3.0 alpha referred to chickens as ducks.[6]
- Notch later referred to chickens in a blog post as "the Chicken/duck/whatevers".[7]
- During Minecraft: Story Mode, Petra at one point questions whether chickens are ducks.
- In Minecraft: The Island, Guy refers to chickens as "chick-ducks."
- In A Minecraft Movie, chickens are designed with webbed feet closer to a duck.
Gallery
The specific instructions are: Animated versions of new chicken variants.
Animations
-
Animation of a temperate chicken floating, flying, or sitting. -
Animation of a temperate baby chicken floating, flying, or sitting.
Mojang screenshots
-
A chicken enjoying the sunset. -
Chicken variants in a desert. -
Chickens in the sunset. -
A cold chicken lays an egg. -
Warm chickens on a grassy ledge. -
A bunch of chickens in water. -
Baby zombies riding chicken variants. -
Chicken variants with their eggs.
Screenshots
-
A chicken looking at the player. -
A dying chicken and its item drops when killed. -
A chicken next to an egg. -
A chicken riding a minecart. -
A chicken compared to a tiny slime. -
A chicken on fire. -
A chicken swimming. -
A group of chickens following a player. -
A chicken being attacked by an ocelot. -
A chicken flapping its wings while falling from a high place.
Textures
-
Chicken texture file. -

-
Cold Chicken texture file. -
Warm Chicken texture file.
In other media
-
Artwork of a chicken. -
An artwork of a chicken by Mojang. -
Ditto. -
A chicken in promotional artwork for the Horse Update. -
A chicken in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update. -
Efe clutching a chicken in an ancient city. -
Sunny discarding an egg in front of a chicken. -
A chicken startling Sunny and Efe. -
The Secret Chicken, featured in the Trails & Tales Event. -

-

-

-
Chicken Body, sold as part of the Community Celebration event. -
Chicken Hat, also sold as part of the Community Celebration event. -
Chicken in a Suit, a skin featured in the Battle & Beasts skin pack. -

-

-
Chickens covering the Minecraft website during April Fools 2023.
Social media
-
Noor among chicken variants. -
A giant chicken be warded off, parodying a scene from Jurassic Park.[8] -
Chicken but with pants on. -
A demotivational poster of a chicken with sunglasses. -
A chicken waving hello. -
Cold animal variants in real life snow.
Merchandise
-
Lego Minecraft chicken. -
Flower Chicken, an official T-Shirt design. -
Jolly Mobs Chicken, an official T-Shirt design. -
Wavy Chicken, an official T-Shirt design. -
Acid Duck, an official T-Shirt design. Note the inverted feet. -
Evolution of the Chicken, a design featured on an official water bottle. -
Blue Chicken Family, an official tote bag. -
Chicken figure of Flippin' Figs
Notes
References
- ↑ MC-95818
- ↑ MC-2153
- ↑ MC-260035 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ "Also, the chicken is now a duck." – @notch (Markus Persson) on X (formerly Twitter), October 28, 2011
- ↑ "@NationalStupid1 It was a joke" – @jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), November 2, 2011
- ↑ "Minecraft – Pocket Edition Now with Crafting!" (Archive) by Daniel Kaplan – Mojang.com, April 24, 2012.
- ↑ "Gender in Minecraft" – Notch, July 28, 2012, Tumblr
- ↑ "The T. rex Escapes the Paddock in 4K HDR | Jurassic Park" – Jurassic World on YouTube, May 1, 2021
External links
- Chicken article on Wikipedia
- "A Working Chicken Coop" by Kate Gray – Minecraft.net, August 2, 2022.
- "Chicken" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, December 13, 2024.










