A chicken is a common passive mob found in grassy biomes.
Spawning
Chickens naturally generate in groups of 2-4 on grass blocks[a] with 2 blocks of free space above it at a light level of 9 or more.
After the world generation, they spawn individually.
5% of spawned chickens spawn as babies.
They require a light level of 7 or more to spawn.[BE only]
Chicken Jockey
All baby zombie variants and baby zombie pigmen have a 5% chance to spawn riding a chicken, forming a chicken jockey. Since a baby zombie only occurs from 5% of zombie spawns, this means that the chicken jockey spawns consist only 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 command /summon chicken ~ ~ ~ {Passengers:[{id:zombie,IsBaby:1}]}.
Chicken jockeys may spawn with items equipped. Baby zombie pigmen versions of the chicken jockey always wield a golden sword. Harming or killing the chicken does not cause the zombie pigman to attack.
Drops
When an adult chicken is killed:
- 0-2 feathers. The maximum is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 with Looting III.
- 1 raw chicken (1 cooked chicken if killed while on fire) The maximum is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 1-4 with Looting III.
- and 1–3 when killed by a player or tamed wolf. (10 if it was part of a chicken jockey)
They also lay 1egg every 5 to 10 minutes.
Upon successful breeding, 1–7 is dropped.
Killing a baby chicken yields no items or experience.
Behavior
Chickens wander aimlessly, chicks also follow adults. When falling, they flap their wings and fall slowly, thus they are immune to fall damage. However, they avoid falling off cliffs. When harmed, they flee around. Chickens uniquely attempt to jump up to climb stairs instead of climbing them normally.[1] They are attacked by ocelots, untamed cats[JE only] and foxes.
While in a loaded chunk, a chicken lays an egg every 5-10 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 sound is heard.
They swim, visibly flapping their wings and staying on the water surface. While swimming, chicks need only one block of air above their heads. Full-grown chickens need two blocks of air above their heads or else they are harmed.
Breeding
A baby chicken with its parents.
Chickens follow players holding various seeds within 6 blocks.
If two adult chickens are fed wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, melon seeds or pumpkin seeds, a baby spawns. They cannot breed for 5 minutes afterward.
Baby chickens take 20 minutes to grow up, but the growth time can be accelerated by 10% each time it is fed seeds.
Baby chickens do not lay eggs. Due to their small size, they can pass through openings even smaller than a full block, though not willingly.
Thrown eggs have a 1⁄8 chance to spawn a baby chicken. If successful, there is a 1⁄256 chance to spawn 4 baby chickens instead.
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken clucks | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Chicken dies | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Chicken plops | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Chicken hurts | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Footsteps | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 |
Data values
Chickens have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- 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.
- 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.
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed two animals together | Husbandry | Breed a pair of any of these 25 mobs:
| husbandry/breed_an_animal
|
![]() | Two by Two | Breed all the animals! | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed a pair of each of these 24 mobs:
| husbandry/bred_all_animals
|
Video
- Note: This video is outdated, Chickens are bred from seeds instead of wheat. Also, the video was made before other flying mobs were implemented, as it states the chicken is the only mob in the Overworld that can fly.
History
| alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.14 | File:Chicken Revision 1.png Added chickens. | ||||
| v1.0.17 | Chickens are now immune to fall damage, and fall slower than other mobs. | ||||
| beta | |||||
| 1.0 | Chickens can now be spawned by throwing eggs. | ||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Chickens now drop raw chicken. Before this, chickens dropped only feathers upon death. | |||
| Chickens now run away when attacked. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2 | Chickens can now be bred with wheat. | |||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | File:Baby Chicken Revision 1.png Added 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 chickens. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Baby chicken growth can now be accelerated using seeds. | |||
| 14w34d | Chickens can no longer be bred using melon seeds, pumpkin seeds or nether wart. | ||||
| ? | Baby chickens can now swim. | ||||
| 1.9 | 15w31a | Chickens can now be led and bred with 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. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID has now been changed from Chicken to chicken.
| |||
| A texture has now been added under the chicken's head, which changes the texture from File:Chicken MC-2153.png to File:Chicken 16w32a.png.[2] | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||
| 1.15 | 19w37a | 5% of chickens now spawn as babies. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.3.0 | File:Chicken Revision 1.png Added chickens. | ||||
| 0.6.0 | File:Baby Chicken Revision 1.png Added baby chickens. | ||||
| 0.7.0 | 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. | ||||
| 0.8.0 | ? | Baby chickens can now be spawned by throwing eggs. | |||
| Chickens can now breed. | |||||
| Chickens now follow the player if the player holds pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, beetroot seeds or wheat seeds. | |||||
| 0.10.0 | ? | Chickens no longer have a black texture on their chin, which changes the texture from File:Chicken under BE1.png to File:Chicken 16w32a.png. | |||
| 0.11.0 | ? | Added chicken jockeys — baby zombies spawn riding chickens. | |||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Added ocelots, which attack chickens. | |||
| Chickens can now drop several raw/cooked chicken, if killed with a Looting-enchanted weapon. | |||||
| 0.14.0 | build 1 | Baby zombie jockeys no longer spawn riding chickens, but check for nearby adult chickens to mount prior to attacking a player, villager or golem. | |||
| 0.15.0 | 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. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | File:Chicken Revision 1.png Added chickens. | |
| TU5 | Chickens now run away when attacked. | ||||
| TU7 | File:Baby Chicken Revision 1.png Added baby chickens. | ||||
| Chicken can now be bred with seeds. | |||||
| TU14 | 1.04 | Using a chicken spawn egg, baby chickens can now be spawned by using | |||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Baby chicken growth can now be accelerated using seeds. | |
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | File:Chicken Revision 1.png File:Baby Chicken Revision 1.png Added chickens. | ||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Chicken" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
The Cluckshroom in Minecraft Earth.
- In Minecraft Earth, there exists a mushroom-covered variant of chickens known as cluckshrooms.
- When a chicken is riding a minecart, it is impossible to attack the chicken rather than the cart as it is completely inside the cart's hitbox.
- When a chicken is killed while falling, the corpse also falls more slowly than normal, and the wings still make a flapping animation.
- Chickens are able to "hide" within hoppers due to their small size, protecting them from lava or water that might be directly on top of the hopper.
- Chickens are the only Overworld mob (without the use of hacks/inventory editors) that can breed without a separate item farm, by building a suitable area, collecting their eggs, and throwing the eggs back onto the ground. See also chicken farm.
- A few weeks before the end of Java Edition Beta, Notch tweeted that he changed the chickens to ducks,[3] causing a turmoil on Twitter. A few days later, Jeb, still getting feedback on the idea, stated that it was just a joke.[4]
- The changelog for Pocket Edition Alpha 0.3.0 referred to chickens as ducks.[5]
- Notch later referred to chickens in a blog post as "the chicken/duck/whatevers".[6]
- If the player throws eggs at glass panes, there is a small chance for the baby chicken to spawn on the other side of the panes.
- If an egg is thrown into the water, there is still a chance for a chick to spawn.
- Chicken corpses can also lay eggs.[7]
- Chickens spawn more frequently in jungles than in other biomes.[JE only]
Gallery
Other media
See also
References
- ↑ MC-95818
- ↑ MC-2153
- ↑ "Also, the chicken is now a duck." – @notch (Markus Persson) on X, October 28, 2011
- ↑ "@NationalStupid1 It was a joke" – @jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X, November 2, 2011
- ↑ http://www.mojang.com/2012/04/minecraft-pocket-edition-now-with-crafting/
- ↑ wordofnotch:28188312756
- ↑ MC-4773
- ↑ they do not spawn in snowy tundras, but still spawn in snowy taigas




















