Get Ready to Fly! Chickens Have Been Hidden Throughout the 'Fortnite' Map

If you're a fan of Fortnite, then odds are that you're familiar with the game developers's penchants for adding random, cool oddities to the game and giving them ridiculously powerful applications. This has been a tried and true aspect of Fortnite's gameplay for years now and has largely kept it in a lane of its own when compared to other third-person shooter games.

One of the most recent additions to the game is, well, odd to say the least. It comes in the form of chickens strewn about the map. Yes, you read that right: chickens. So, what exactly do these all-powerful new chickens do in the game, and how can a player go about tracking one down? Here are all of the known details.

Tracking down a chicken wandering around the Fortnite map may seem like a fairly straightforward task, but it's a lot easier said than done. When playing Fortnite, it genuinely seems as though the birds are everywhere on the map ... until you begin the specific challenge to hunt one down, that is.

Unfortunately, hunting a chicken doesn't come with a certain set of instructions like most Fortnite challenges do. Instead, the birds will spawn randomly throughout the map, and it's up to players who are currently undertaking the challenge to keep their eyes peeled for one walking around.

That isn't where the task ends, however, as finding the chicken is only half of the challenge.

Once a player tracks a chicken down, then becomes the difficult task of actually catching it. Pending that it doesn't just run away, you will need to grab the chicken by holding down the button that appears on the screen when you're in range.

Catching a chicken affords you an ability that other players in the game likely will not have: flight. When your player has grips on the chicken, simply jump like normal on flat ground to coast to a gentle landing, or off of a ledge to take no fall damage.

Possession of the chicken isn't what gives you its corresponding achievement alone. To earn that (and the XP), a player must fly a minimum of 200 meters. Don't worry though — you'll be able to monitor your progress as you coast along.

If you haven't been keeping up with the Fortnite storyline as of late, the game is currently in its 2021 Winterfest mode. This special time within the game includes a bevy of different challenges for players to take on and earn XP, including the chicken hunt and flying. Winterfest also rewards all players with a seasonally-themed map along with a new point of interest: a cabin where competitors can "unwrap" gifted rewards.

The full list of Winterfest challenges in Fortnite went live in the game on Dec. 16, 2021, and will be available for players to complete until Jan. 6, 2022.

Fortnite is currently available on a free-to-play basis on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.