Chicken

{
 "title": "Chicken",
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 "label": "Behavior"
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 {
 "field": "'''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>",
 "label": "(link to Hitbox article, displayed as Hitbox size)"
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 {
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 "label": "(link to Attribute#Movement_speed article, displayed as Speed)"
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 {
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 "invimages": [
 "Chicken Spawn Egg"
 ],
 "images": [
 "Chicken JE2 BE2.png",
 "Baby Chicken.png",
 "Cold Chicken.png",
 "Baby Cold Chicken.png",
 "Warm Chicken.png",
 "Baby Warm Chicken.png"
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}

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.

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 in any light level. Individual chickens rarely may spawn after world generation.

In Bedrock Edition, chickens spawn in groups of 2-4 on grass blocks in a light level of 7 and more. 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. Leader zombies and reinforcements can cause a chicken jockey to spawn in the End.

Chickens have 3 variants: temperate, cold, and warm. The variant is determined by the biome the chicken spawns in.

If a chicken is spawned via spawn egg, command or jockey in any biome not listed, a temperate chicken is spawned.

Chickens have 2 sound variants: Classic and Picky.

A sound variant is chosen randomly upon the mob spawning, and is not related to the mob's temperature variant. These sound variants have no effect on the mob's behavior.

For the sounds of each sound variant, see § Sounds.

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.

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.

Adult chickens that were not part of chicken jockeys lay an egg every five to ten minutes.

1–7XP experience orbs upon a successful breeding.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

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^{[JE only]}.

Killing a chick yields no items or experience.

Killing a zombie riding a chicken will result in the music disc "Lava Chicken" dropping.

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. Chicks 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 and foxes pursue and attack chickens. While chickens do flee when attacked, they otherwise make no attempt to avoid foxes.

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.

Chickens follow players holding wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, torchflower seeds, or pitcher pods but stop following when separated from the player by at least 10 blocks‌^{[Java Edition only]} / 16 blocks‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}. Additionally, chicks follow adults.

A player can breed chickens by using seeds. After breeding, a chick 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.

Chicks 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 chick fed a seed once per second grows up in approximately 48 seconds using 47 seeds.

Chicks 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 chick riding a minecart cannot be hit because it is completely inside the minecart's hitbox.

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 chick. If a chick spawns from a thrown egg, there is a further ¹⁄₃₂ chance to spawn three extra chicks, 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:

• 👁 EntitySprite chicken.png: Sprite image for chicken in Minecraft
  Temperate chickens lay regular eggs
• 👁 EntitySprite warm-chicken.png: Sprite image for warm-chicken in Minecraft
  Warm chickens lay brown eggs
• 👁 EntitySprite cold-chicken.png: Sprite image for cold-chicken in Minecraft
  Cold chickens lay blue eggs

If the player throws an egg at a glass pane, the chick can spawn on the far side of the pane.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Java Edition:

Java Edition:

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Chickens have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Java Edition:

Chicken variants can be configured using JSON files within a data pack in the path data/<namespace>/chicken_variant.

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

• 👁 An automatic chicken farm.
  
  An automatic chicken farm.

Issues relating to "Chicken" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• 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 had changed the chickens to ducks,^[5] causing a turmoil on Twitter. A few days later, Jeb, still receiving feedback on the idea, stated that it was just a joke.^[6] Later on, Mojang rejected the idea of adding ducks to Minecraft.^[7] However, ducks were added into Minecraft Dungeons.
  • The changelog for Pocket Edition v0.3.0 alpha referred to chickens as ducks.^[8]
  • Notch later referred to chickens in a blog post as "the Chicken/duck/whatevers".^[9]
  • 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.
  • In the first chapter of Overworld Adventures, Sofia Dankis remarks she crafted a Nether portal near a lake "in case [her] chickens one day wanted to see what the life of a duck was."^[10]
• In the game code, the wattles of the chicken are called "red_thing".

• In the game Choplifter HD, players can find a hidden island in the mission "Operation Charlie Takedown," where several chickens appear.
• A picture of a chicken appears on a stringboard during The Game Awards 2024, during a conversation between Geoff Keighley and Muppets star Gonzo.
• Chickens are a frequently used minifigure in Lego Minecraft. A common fixture of sets are giant builds of mobs, chickens included.^[11][12]
  • For the BigFigs wave a scale figure of a chicken was also produced.^[13]
• A temperate chick can be found in front of the creeper face in a Minecraft social media profile picture.

• 👁 Animation of a temperate chicken floating, flying, or sitting.
  
  Animation of a temperate chicken floating, flying, or sitting.

• 👁 A chicken enjoying the sunset.
  
  A chicken enjoying the sunset.
• 👁 Chicken variants in a desert.
  
  Chicken variants in a desert.
• 👁 Chickens in the sunset.
  
  Chickens in the sunset.
• 👁 A cold chicken lays an egg.
  
  A cold chicken lays an egg.
• 👁 Warm chickens on a grassy ledge.
  
  Warm chickens on a grassy ledge.
• 👁 A bunch of chickens in water.
  
  A bunch of chickens in water.
• 👁 Baby zombies riding chicken variants.
  
  Baby zombies riding chicken variants.
• 👁 Chicken variants with their eggs.
  
  Chicken variants with their eggs.
• 👁 Two temperate chickens leading their chicks.
  
  Two temperate chickens leading their chicks.

• 👁 A chicken looking at the player.
  
  A chicken looking at the player.
• 👁 A dying chicken and its item drops when killed.
  
  A dying chicken and its item drops when killed.
• 👁 A chicken next to an egg.
  
  A chicken next to an egg.
• 👁 A chicken riding a minecart.
  
  A chicken riding a minecart.
• 👁 A chicken compared to a tiny slime.
  
  A chicken compared to a tiny slime.
• 👁 A chicken on fire.
  
  A chicken on fire.
• 👁 A chicken swimming.
  
  A chicken swimming.
• 👁 A group of chickens following a player.
  
  A group of chickens following a player.
• 👁 A chicken being attacked by an ocelot.
  
  A chicken being attacked by an ocelot.
• 👁 A chicken flapping its wings while falling from a high place.
  
  A chicken flapping its wings while falling from a high place.
• 👁 All the chicken variants and their respective chicks
  
  All the chicken variants and their respective chicks

• 👁 Chicken texture file.
  
  Chicken texture file.
• 👁 Programmer Art
  
  Programmer Art
• 👁 Cold Chicken texture file.
  
  Cold Chicken texture file.
• 👁 Warm Chicken texture file.
  
  Warm Chicken texture file.
• 👁 Chick texture file.
  
  Chick texture file.
• 👁 Cold Chick texture file.
  
  Cold Chick texture file.
• 👁 Warm Chick texture file.
  
  Warm Chick texture file.

• 👁 Artwork of a chicken
  
  Artwork of a chicken
• 👁 Artwork of a chicken by Mojang
  
  Artwork of a chicken by Mojang
• 👁 Ditto
  
  Ditto
• 👁 A chicken in promotional artwork for the Horse Update
  
  A chicken in promotional artwork for the Horse Update
• 👁 A chicken in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update
  
  A chicken in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update
• 👁 Efe clutching a chicken in an ancient city
  
  Efe clutching a chicken in an ancient city
• 👁 Sunny discarding an egg in front of a chicken
  
  Sunny discarding an egg in front of a chicken
• 👁 A chicken startling Sunny and Efe
  
  A chicken startling Sunny and Efe
• 👁 The Secret Chicken, featured in the Trails & Tales Event
  
  The Secret Chicken, featured in the Trails & Tales Event
• 👁 City texture pack
  
  City texture pack
• 👁 Greek Mythology mash-up pack
  
  Greek Mythology mash-up pack
• 👁 Halloween mash-up pack
  
  Halloween mash-up pack
• 👁 Chicken Body, sold as part of the Community Celebration event
  
  Chicken Body, sold as part of the Community Celebration event
• 👁 Chicken Hat, also 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
  
  Chicken in a Suit, a skin featured in the Battle & Beasts skin pack
• 👁 Chicken Tee
  
  Chicken Tee
• 👁 Zombie Jockey Harness
  
  Zombie Jockey Harness
• 👁 Chickens covering the Minecraft website during April Fools 2023
  
  Chickens covering the Minecraft website during April Fools 2023
• 👁 A chicken and chick as they appear in Last Block Standing!
  
  A chicken and chick as they appear in Last Block Standing!
• 👁 Image
  

• 👁 Noor among chicken variants
  
  Noor among chicken variants
• 👁 A giant chicken be warded off, parodying a scene from Jurassic Park[14]
  
  A giant chicken be warded off, parodying a scene from Jurassic Park^[14]
• 👁 Chicken but with pants on
  
  Chicken but with pants on
• 👁 A demotivational poster of a chicken with sunglasses
  
  A demotivational poster of a chicken with sunglasses
• 👁 A chicken waving hello
  
  A chicken waving hello
• 👁 Cold animal variants on the side of the road
  
  Cold animal variants in real life snow
• 👁 Cats taking photos of a chicken
  
  Cats taking photos of a chicken
• 👁 Chickens in a real life farm
  
  Chickens in a real life farm
• 👁 A chicken calling in a phone
  
  A chicken calling in a phone
• 👁 A boxtrap of a chick and other baby animals
  
  A boxtrap of a chick and other baby animals
• 👁 A chick reminding that the feed has been cleansed
  
  A chick reminding that the feed has been cleansed
• 👁 A chick hiding amongst the flowers
  
  A chick hiding amongst the flowers
• 👁 Several chicks taking over Instagram
  
  Several chicks taking over Instagram
• 👁 Someone holding a notebook with a doodle of a chick
  
  Someone holding a notebook with a doodle of a chick
• 👁 A baby chicken fading into a post-Tiny Takeover chick
  
  A baby chicken fading into a post-Tiny Takeover chick
• 👁 Image
  

• 👁 LEGO Minecraft chicken
  
  LEGO Minecraft chicken
• 👁 Flower Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
  
  Flower Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
• 👁 Jolly Mobs Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
  
  Jolly Mobs Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
• 👁 Wavy Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
  
  Wavy Chicken, an official T-Shirt design
• 👁 Acid Duck, an official T-Shirt design. Note the inverted feet
  
  Acid Duck, an official T-Shirt design. Note the inverted feet
• 👁 Evolution of the Chicken, a design featured on an official water bottle
  
  Evolution of the Chicken, a design featured on an official water bottle
• 👁 Blue Chicken Family, an official tote bag
  
  Blue Chicken Family, an official tote bag
• 👁 Chicken figure of Flippin' Figs
  
  Chicken figure of Flippin' Figs
• 👁 Lego baby chicken (chick)
  
  Lego baby chicken (chick)
• 👁 A Lego Minecraft set featuring a chicken jockey and a chick
  
  A Lego Minecraft set featuring a chicken jockey and a chick

• 👁 A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons
  
  A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons
• 👁 A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Legends
  
  A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Legends
• 👁 A chicken as it appeared in Minecraft: Story Mode
  
  A chicken as it appeared in Minecraft: Story Mode
• 👁 A chicken as it appeared in A Minecraft Movie
  
  A chicken as it appeared in A Minecraft Movie
• 👁 A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Blast
  
  A chicken as it appears in Minecraft Blast
• 👁 Ditto
  
  Ditto
• 👁 A chicken as seen in Minecraft Earth
  
  A chicken as seen in Minecraft Earth

• "A Working Chicken Coop" by Kate Gray – Minecraft.net, August 2, 2022.
• "Mob Menagerie: Chicken" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, December 13, 2024.