Chicken

Chicken

• Temperate
• Cold
• Warm

Adult

Baby

Jockey

Adult

Baby

Jockey

Adult

Baby

Jockey

Health points	4HP
Behavior	Passive
Mob type	Animal
Hitbox size	In Java Edition: Adult: Height: 0.7 blocks Width: 0.4 blocks Baby: Height: 0.35 blocks Width: 0.2 blocks In Bedrock Edition: Adult: Height: 0.8 blocks Width: 0.6 blocks Baby: Height: 0.4 blocks Width: 0.3 blocks
Speed	0.25
Spawn	Overworld – Grass blocks with at least two blocks of space above in most biomes. A 1⁄8 chance from a thrown egg. The Nether – (Any 2 block high space in any light level in the Nether, as a jockey)‌: Nether Wastes Crimson Forest Nether Fortress
Usable items	Wheat Seeds Beetroot Seeds Melon Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Torchflower Seeds Pitcher Pod Lead

{
    "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=&#9829)(link to File:Heart (icon).png article, displayed as 9px|link=|alt=&#9829)</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)"
        },
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "(link to Mob spawning article, displayed as Spawn)"
        },
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "Usable items"
        }
    ],
    "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, mangrove swamps, and pale gardens.

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.

Each chicken has a 5% chance of spawning as a baby.

Chickens may be found in the Nether when a chicken jockey spawns.

Variants

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

Temperate chickens spawn in the following biomes:

• Plains
• Sunflower Plains
• Forest
• Flower Forest
• Birch Forest
• Old Growth Birch Forest
• Dark Forest
• Swamp

Warm chickens spawn naturally in the following biomes:

• Savanna
• Savanna Plateau
• Windswept Savanna
• Jungle
• Bamboo Jungle
• Sparse Jungle
• Badlands
• Eroded Badlands
• Wooded Badlands

Warm chickens also spawn in any of the following biomes when spawned with a spawn egg, commands or as part of a jockey:

• Warm Ocean
• Lukewarm Ocean
• Deep Lukewarm Ocean
• Mangrove Swamp
• Desert
• The Nether
  • Nether Wastes
  • Crimson Forest
  • Warped Forest
  • Soul Sand Valley
  • Basalt Deltas

Cold chickens spawn naturally in the following biomes:

• Taiga
• Snowy Taiga
• Old Growth Pine Taiga
• Old Growth Spruce Taiga
• Windswept Hills
• Windswept Gravelly Hills
• Windswept Forest

Cold chickens also spawn in any of the following biomes when spawned with a spawn egg, commands or as part of a jockey:

• Snowy Plains
• Ice Spikes
• Frozen Peaks
• Jagged Peaks
• Stony Peaks
• Snowy Slopes
• Frozen Ocean
• Deep Frozen Ocean
• Cold Ocean
• Deep Cold Ocean
• Grove
• Deep Dark
• Frozen River
• Snowy Beach
• The End
  • The End
  • End Highlands‌
  • End Midlands‌
  • Small End Islands‌
  • End Barrens‌

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 spawn riding a chicken, forming a chicken jockey. Because a baby zombie occurs from 5% of zombie spawns, the chicken jockey spawns consist of 0.25% 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.

"Chicken Jockey"

- Steve, A Minecraft Movie, 2025

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		Roll Chance	Quantity (Roll Chance)
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Feather	100%	0–2	0–3	0–4	0–5
	Raw Chicken	100%	1	1–2	1–3	1–4

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 following a player holding wheat seeds.

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.

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

If two adult chickens are fed wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, torchflower seeds, or pitcher pods, a baby chicken spawns. They cannot breed for 5 minutes afterward. The variant of the offspring is inherited from one of the parents and does not depend on the biome they are bred in.

A baby chicken with its parents.

Baby chickens take 20 minutes to grow up, but the growth time can be accelerated by 10% each time it is fed seeds. 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 at random 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.

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Chicken clucks	Friendly Creatures	Randomly	entity.chicken.ambient	subtitles.entity.chicken.ambient​	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	​Chicken dies	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken dies	entity.chicken.death	subtitles.entity.chicken.death​	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	​Chicken hurts	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken is damaged	entity.chicken.hurt	subtitles.entity.chicken.hurt​	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	​Chicken plops	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken lays an egg	entity.chicken.egg	subtitles.entity.chicken.egg​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Footsteps	Friendly Creatures	While a chicken is walking	entity.chicken.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Friendly Creatures	Randomly	mob.chicken.say	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken dies	mob.chicken.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken is damaged	mob.chicken.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Friendly Creatures	When a chicken lays an egg	mob.chicken.plop	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Friendly Creatures	While a chicken is walking	mob.chicken.step	0.25	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	[hide]Translation key
Chicken	chicken	dismounts_underwater fall_damage_immune	entity.minecraft.chicken

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	[hide]Translation key
Chicken	chicken	10	entity.chicken.name

Entity data

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

Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
  • Additional fields for mobs that can breed see Template:Nbt inherit/breedable/template[show]
  • Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template[show]
  • Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template[show]
  • [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.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Chicken variants

Java Edition:

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

Achievements

[hide]
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	—	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	Armor Stand also counts for this advancement. 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:[show] Mobs that drop no experience as well as the ender dragon are ignored for this advancement.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	–
	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:[hide] A mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs are ignored for this advancement.
	Two by Two	Breed all the animals!	Breed a pair of each of these 25 mobs:[hide] A trader llama does not count as a llama, and a mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs can be bred, but are ignored for this advancement.

History

[hide]Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.14							Added chickens.
							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.
[hide]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.
[hide]Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2				Chickens can now be bred using wheat.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3				Added baby chickens.
			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.
1.7.4			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 to .
1.14			18w43a				The texture of chickens has been changed.
			19w07a				Added foxes, which pursue and kill chickens.
1.15			19w37a				5% of chickens now spawn as babies.
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			1.19.4 Pre-release 1				Chickens can now be fed using torchflower seeds.
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				Added cold and warm chickens.
							The original chicken variant is now considered temperate.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.3.0							Added chickens.
							Baby chickens have also been added, but they do not yet spawn naturally.
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 to .
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.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of chickens has been changed.
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 Drop 1 2025			Preview 1.21.70.20				Added cold and warm chickens.
1.21.70			Preview 1.21.70.23				All features behind the "Drop 1 2025" experimental toggle have now been fully implemented.
[hide]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	Added chickens.
TU5							Chickens now run away when attacked.
TU7							Added baby chickens.
							Chickens can now be bred using seeds.
TU14		1.04					Using a chicken spawn egg, baby chickens can now be spawned by using on a chicken.
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 to .​
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added chickens.

Data history

[hide]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, causing a turmoil on Twitter. A few days later, Jeb, still getting feedback on the idea, stated that it was just a joke.
  • The changelog for Pocket Edition v0.3.0 alpha referred to chickens as ducks.
  • Notch later referred to chickens in a blog post as "the Chicken/duck/whatevers".
  • During Minecraft: Story Mode, Petra at one point questions whether chickens are ducks.

Gallery

Animations

• 

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

• 

  Animation of a temperate baby chicken floating, flying, or sitting.

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.

Mojang screenshots

• 

  An automatic chicken farm.

• 

  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.

• 

  Noor among Chicken variants.

• 

  Baby zombies riding chicken variants.

• 

  Chicken variants with their eggs.

Textures

• 

  Chicken texture file.

• 

  Programmer Art

• 

  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.

• 

  A giant chicken be warded off, parodying a scene from Jurassic Park.

• 

  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.

• 

  The Secret Chicken, featured in the Trails & Tales Event.

• 

  The diamond chicken, a joke variant featured in Java Edition 2.0

• 

  The potato chicken from 24w14potato.

• 

  City texture pack

• 

  Greek Mythology mash-up pack

• 

  Halloween mash-up pack

• 

  Chicken Body, sold as part of the Community Celebration event.

• 

  Chicken Hat, also sold as part of the Community Celebration event.

• 

  Chicken Jockey Costume by Dots Aglow

• 

  Chicken in a Suit, a skin featured in the Battle & Beasts skin pack.

• 

  Chicken Tee

• 

  Zombie Jockey Harness

• 

  Chicken but with pants on.

• 

  A demotivational poster of a chicken with sunglasses.

• 

  Chickens covering the Minecraft website during April Fools 2023.

• 

  A chicken waving hello.

• 

  Artwork of two chickens.

• 

  Chicken figure of Flippin' Figs

• 

  A chicken as seen in A Minecraft Movie

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.