Minecraft Chicken Variants in 1.21.5: Cold, Warm, and Temperate Chickens

Snapshot 25w06a gave Minecraft chickens the same regional treatment that pigs and cows received, making the older farm animals feel more connected to their biomes. Chickens also gained a practical difference: egg type.

All Minecraft Chicken Variants in 1.21.5

Each chicken variant has its own look and home climate. Cold chickens lay blue eggs, warm chickens lay brown eggs, and temperate chickens keep the classic white egg.

Cold Chicken

• Biome: Old-Growth Pine Taiga, Old-Growth Spruce Taiga, Taiga, Snowy Taiga, Windswept Hills, Windswept Gravelly Hills, and Windswept Forest

Cold chickens have black feathers, a decorative crest on the head, and blue eggs that drop every five to ten minutes. Blue eggs work almost like standard white eggs, except thrown blue eggs can spawn cold chickens.

Mojang has not confirmed the inspiration, but the cold chicken strongly resembles the old French Crevecoeur breed. That breed is known for black plumage and a similar feather crest. It is also endangered, which makes the Minecraft version oddly educational for a bird that mostly wanders into fences.

Warm Chicken

• Biome: Savanna, Savanna Plateau, Windswept Savanna, Jungle, Sparse Jungle, Bamboo Jungle, Eroded Badlands, Wooded Badlands, and Badlands

Warm chickens have golden feathers with dark beaks and legs. They lay brown eggs every five to ten minutes, and thrown brown eggs can spawn warm chickens instead of the temperate kind.

The real-world reference is less certain. Warm chickens may be based on the Spanish Ankole breed because of the matching golden plumage and dark legs. Some players have suggested the British Orpington instead, but Mojang's climate-based variant choices make Ankole the more likely fit.

Temperate Chicken

• Biome: Forest, Flower Forest, Birch Forest, Old-Growth Birch Forest, Dark Forest, Swamp, and any biome not listed as warm or cold

Temperate chickens are the familiar white chickens with yellow legs and beaks. They lay standard white eggs and appear in the usual middle-climate biomes, plus any biome that does not fall under the warm or cold variant lists.

Their real-world inspiration could be several breeds, but the Italian Leghorn is the likely match due to its white feathers, yellow beak, yellow legs, and reputation as the classic white chicken.