There are a lot of elements that go in to a Chicken Derby chicken. Even if we ignore the hidden elements that can only be discovered through racing like consistency, distance preference, and terrain preference these are still complex little creatures.
So let’s break down the key pieces of a chicken that you see on OpenSea. Note that we do not know much about the impact of the majority of these elements so each user will have to make their own decisions about where to invest.
Gender
This is a simple one. There are two options under gender and 50% of the spicy generation from the drops are hens and 50% are roosters. We have no reason to believe gender will be a factor in racing but we do know that creating an egg will involve a hen and a rooster.
Heritage
There are four different heritages in chicken derby. The rarest of which are Serama with only 2,000 (6%) of them available in the spicy generation. They are followed by Sultans with a supply of 5,500 (16.5%) and then come Lakenvelders with a supply of 11,000 (33%) with Dorkings being the most common at 14,833 (44.5%). Each heritage will have different characteristics that will likely have an impact on both racing and breeding so taking time to understand the descriptions in the guide (https://bitlovin.gitbook.io/chicken-derby-tutorial/understanding-your-chicken) would be wise. In the current market the prices of each heritage are very much based on the rarity. There is little gap between Dorking and Lakenvelder but it jumps up quickly if you are looking to buy a Sultan or Serama.
Stock
Another simple one for now as the entire supply is Spicy. These are the first generation of chickens and when breeding is live the stock of subsequent generations will decrease through the six available levels. The different stocks are: spicy, robust, fresh, crisp, tender, bland. As we move down through the generations and towards the weaker stocks chickens will in general get weaker but its important to note that good breeding can result in strong chickens in the lower stocks so do not expect the spicy generation to always dominate the race track.
Talent
It gets a little more complex here as there are a total of 20 different talents that birds can have with a few different tiers of rarity. If you are in the market for a bird it would be wise to again consult the guide (https://bitlovin.gitbook.io/chicken-derby-tutorial/talents) to at least read the written description of what each talent will do. The common talents are: anvil, blue rooster, chickenapult, CK-47, coober, flight, growth, machete, rollerblades, and teleporter. Roughly 7% of birds have each of these talents meaning that a total of 70% of birds have one of these common talents. The uncommon talents are: blue egg, dig, fan group, helicopter, and jet pack. These 5 talents are present in around 4% of birds each so that means 20% of the current population has an uncommon talent. The rare talents are: cold snap, devolution, and moving walkway. These three talents are available on roughly 2% of birds each for a total of 6% of the birds having a rare talent. The final group are the very rare talents: black hole and royal procession. Each of these talents are only found on 0.5% of birds so only 1% of the existing chickens have very rare talents.
Background
The background may just be a pretty colour that appears behind a chicken on OpenSea but it could also mean something. It is one of the elements that we really have no idea of the implications for. But we do know there are 10 different backgrounds which are: stone, autumn, winter, lilac, summer, amethyst, lava, ocean, fresh, and spring. Get your tinfoil hat out and decide what you think backgrounds might mean come racing time.
Basebody
The first of the cosmetic features on birds is similar to backgrounds in that it could mean nothing other than looking good or it could mean something on the race track. We won’t know until birds are up and running and there is some data to look over. There are 19 different base bodies with a wide range of rarities some of which are specific to different heritages. In order of rarity these are the base bodies: bald chicken, english mustard, eggshell, manic mint, joker’s jade, screamin green, purple wine, istanblue, sapphire, orange will, wild moss, rose, shocking pink, royal violet, merah red, classic, cherry dusk, black, and robot. There are 4 base bodies exclusive to each heritage with the remaining three body colours being available across all heritages but rare. There are only 300 classic bodies and 100 each of black and robot bodies.
Stripes
Across all the different base bodies there is a chance of getting a bird with stripes. There are only 1,000 birds with stripes in the game. While racing stripes may make your chicken go zoom on the racetrack that is another element that is only speculation until racing time.
Beak Colour
This could be another area that has an impact or is just a cosmetic element of chickens. We know there are five possible beak colours with yellow, orange, and gold being common; white uncommon; and black limited to only black chickens. Shoutout to the white beak gang for believing that beak colour is going to mean something.
Beak Accessory
There are two possible beak accessories that a chicken can have. Beak ring and vampire teeth. These are both rare with only slightly over 400 birds having each accessory. But just like most of the previous elements of a bird we have no idea what impact these may or may not have on the race track even though it is fair to say there have been hints that they will mean something.
Comb & Wattle Colour
Guess what? Another element we really have no idea if it will have any impact beyond making your chicken look cool! There are 11 colours here with different rarities. The commons are: green, red, white, blue, and orange. The uncommon are black and pink. The rarest are the heritage exclusive colours of candy, purple, yellow, and teal. The final comb and wattle is the robot specific one which comes with some cool studs.
Eye Type
Here we go again…no idea if this one impacts racing or just helps your bird look unique. We have 11 common eyes: shocked, bloodshot, bulging, exhausted, angry, sleepy, determined, beauty, sad, crosseyed, and cockeyed. The rare eyes are: lizard, eye patch, and alien. There is also a robot exclusive eye. Less than 1% of chickens have each of the rare eye types as only 300 of each exist.
Perfection
The last thing that shows on a chickens page on OpenSea is their levels which is where perfection score is located. In the spicy generation of chickens the perfection scores range from 90 up to 100 with the higher scores being more rare. This is one element that we know for sure is going to impact racing and as such the market seems to have placed a clear value on higher perfection chickens. In the long run everything 90+ could prove to be very good as future generations drop all the way down as low as 1 but for now if your goal is a good racing chicken spending time looking for the right perfection score is probably a good choice.