How to Breed Chickens in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Feed any kind of seeds - wheat, melon, pumpkin, beetroot or torchflower seeds, or pitcher pods - to two chickens. A chick spawns right away, and thrown eggs also have a 1 in 8 chance of hatching.

What you need

Seeds of any kind (wheat seeds are easiest)
2 chickens
A fenced pen

Step by step

Lure two chickens into a pen while holding any seeds - chickens follow you from 10 blocks away (16 in Bedrock).
Feed seeds to each chicken: hearts appear and a chick spawns. Parents need 5 minutes before breeding again, and you get 1-7 XP.
Chicks grow up in 20 minutes; each seed you feed a chick cuts the remaining time by 10%.
Egg shortcut: adult chickens lay an egg every 5-10 minutes. Throw the eggs - each has a 1/8 chance of spawning a chick, and 1 in 256 eggs pops out 4 chicks at once.
Harvest adults for raw chicken and feathers (for arrows), and stockpile the eggs for cake and pumpkin pie.

Java vs Bedrock

Breeding and egg mechanics are the same in Java and Bedrock: 5-10 minute egg laying, 1/8 hatch chance, 1/256 quad-chick throw and 20-minute chick growth. Follow range differs slightly: 10 blocks in Java, 16 in Bedrock.

Versions: Chickens and eggs are among Minecraft's oldest features, added in Alpha in July 2010. Update 1.21.5 added warm and cold chicken variants with their own egg colors.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to start a chicken farm?

Find one chicken, lure it home with seeds, and throw every egg it lays: each egg has a 1 in 8 chance of hatching a chick, so a single chicken snowballs into a full pen without more wild trips.

Do thrown eggs damage mobs?

They knock mobs back but deal zero damage - the only reason to throw eggs is the chance of hatching a chick.

Which seeds work for breeding?

Wheat, beetroot, melon, pumpkin and torchflower seeds all work, plus pitcher pods. Whatever is sitting in your chest is fine.