CS2 pets: the chicken egg, the Weekly Care Package trade-off, the four growth stages, and what feeding actually costs
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2026 7:05 am
Quick summary
The September 2026 update added pets to CS2, and Valve left them out of the patch notes. Prime accounts can raise one chicken per account: an egg from the Weekly Care Package, fed with Chicken Feed, growing through egg, chick, pullet and hen. It is cosmetic and it cannot be traded.[1][2]
The part worth knowing before you claim anything is the cost. Picking the egg uses both of that week's Care Package rewards, so you get the egg and nothing else.[1][2] The pet is also untradable, so there is no market for it and no way to sell an unwanted bird.[1]
How you get the egg
The Chicken Egg appears as a random option in the Weekly Care Package, which Prime accounts get with their first rank-up of the week.[1][2] It is not a guaranteed drop.[2]
Claiming it takes both of that week's reward picks. You receive the egg instead of the usual two items.[1][2] If you care about the skins or cases on offer that week, the egg is a real trade-off, not a free bonus.
One pet slot per account, and there is no button to release the pet or swap it. You get another egg only after your current one has left.[1]
Hatching
An egg takes about a week to hatch. Valve's tooltip says "a week or so", and the first eggs hatched about 5 days after they were claimed, on 28 and 29 September 2026.[1][2]
The hatch date is fixed the moment you claim the egg, and it hatches when you open CS2 after that date.[1] An egg nobody comes back for in time never hatches at all.[1] How long you get after the hatch date is not known.[1]
The four growth stages
Every egg hatches into a yellow chick. Breed and colour only become visible when it grows into a pullet.[1][2]
Feeding
Chicken Feed comes from the Weekly Care Package as well, and claiming it also uses both of that week's picks.[1][2] It is not a Steam Market item.[2]
From the chick stage on, every pet has a food expiry date, and feed moves that date later.[1] An egg does not eat.[1]
Two in-game hints tell you what is coming. "More feed for [pet name] is available in Weekly Care Packages" means the food will not last until the next stage. "Running low on food" appears 9 days before the bowl empties, which leaves you at least one Care Package to grab feed from.[1]
If a chick, pullet or hen runs out of food, it leaves for good.[1] It walks off with one of three random lines, including "Your pet has accepted a position elsewhere."[1]
Breeds and colours
Three breeds: Catalana, Silkie and Polish.[1][2] Colours are random and you see them for the first time at the pullet stage.[1]
The two sources disagree on how many colour designs exist. One counts 34 colours across the three breeds, the other counts 42 colour designs in the game files, split as 15 Catalana, 13 Silkie and 13 Polish plus the default chick.[1][2] Neither figure is a drop rate, and neither source confirms that the game rolls colours the way the file weights suggest. Treat the exact count as unsettled until real pullets confirm it.
Size follows the stage. On a map, a pullet is about 60 percent the size of a normal map chicken and a hen is full size.[1] Each pet also has its own build, set by its pattern, and it keeps that build for life.[1]
What it does in a match
Cosmetic only. No weapons, no scouting, no damage, no economy effect.[2]
From the pullet stage on, the bird can accompany you on a map when you host the lobby or queue solo.[2] An egg or a chick stays in the menus.[1] In a party, friends' pets show up in the main menu lobby, eggs in nests, and the end-of-match screen shows every player's pet.[1]
A pet can be burned, hit by a Zeus or caught in a C4 blast in a round, like any map chicken, but that only unlocks photo booth effects and Field Incident Report pages early. The pet itself only leaves when its food runs out or it reaches old age.[1]
Common mistakes
The September 2026 update added pets to CS2, and Valve left them out of the patch notes. Prime accounts can raise one chicken per account: an egg from the Weekly Care Package, fed with Chicken Feed, growing through egg, chick, pullet and hen. It is cosmetic and it cannot be traded.[1][2]
The part worth knowing before you claim anything is the cost. Picking the egg uses both of that week's Care Package rewards, so you get the egg and nothing else.[1][2] The pet is also untradable, so there is no market for it and no way to sell an unwanted bird.[1]
How you get the egg
The Chicken Egg appears as a random option in the Weekly Care Package, which Prime accounts get with their first rank-up of the week.[1][2] It is not a guaranteed drop.[2]
Claiming it takes both of that week's reward picks. You receive the egg instead of the usual two items.[1][2] If you care about the skins or cases on offer that week, the egg is a real trade-off, not a free bonus.
One pet slot per account, and there is no button to release the pet or swap it. You get another egg only after your current one has left.[1]
Hatching
An egg takes about a week to hatch. Valve's tooltip says "a week or so", and the first eggs hatched about 5 days after they were claimed, on 28 and 29 September 2026.[1][2]
The hatch date is fixed the moment you claim the egg, and it hatches when you open CS2 after that date.[1] An egg nobody comes back for in time never hatches at all.[1] How long you get after the hatch date is not known.[1]
The four growth stages
- Egg, about 5 days. It has a deadline to be hatched by, but it does not eat.[1]
- Chick, 22 days. It stays in the menus and cannot come into matches. You can name it and take it to the photo booth.[1]
- Pullet, 28 days. Breed and colours arrive. From here it comes into your matches.[1]
- Hen, 90 days. Fully grown, with the full set of photo booth poses.[1]
Every egg hatches into a yellow chick. Breed and colour only become visible when it grows into a pullet.[1][2]
Feeding
Chicken Feed comes from the Weekly Care Package as well, and claiming it also uses both of that week's picks.[1][2] It is not a Steam Market item.[2]
From the chick stage on, every pet has a food expiry date, and feed moves that date later.[1] An egg does not eat.[1]
Two in-game hints tell you what is coming. "More feed for [pet name] is available in Weekly Care Packages" means the food will not last until the next stage. "Running low on food" appears 9 days before the bowl empties, which leaves you at least one Care Package to grab feed from.[1]
If a chick, pullet or hen runs out of food, it leaves for good.[1] It walks off with one of three random lines, including "Your pet has accepted a position elsewhere."[1]
Breeds and colours
Three breeds: Catalana, Silkie and Polish.[1][2] Colours are random and you see them for the first time at the pullet stage.[1]
The two sources disagree on how many colour designs exist. One counts 34 colours across the three breeds, the other counts 42 colour designs in the game files, split as 15 Catalana, 13 Silkie and 13 Polish plus the default chick.[1][2] Neither figure is a drop rate, and neither source confirms that the game rolls colours the way the file weights suggest. Treat the exact count as unsettled until real pullets confirm it.
Size follows the stage. On a map, a pullet is about 60 percent the size of a normal map chicken and a hen is full size.[1] Each pet also has its own build, set by its pattern, and it keeps that build for life.[1]
What it does in a match
Cosmetic only. No weapons, no scouting, no damage, no economy effect.[2]
From the pullet stage on, the bird can accompany you on a map when you host the lobby or queue solo.[2] An egg or a chick stays in the menus.[1] In a party, friends' pets show up in the main menu lobby, eggs in nests, and the end-of-match screen shows every player's pet.[1]
A pet can be burned, hit by a Zeus or caught in a C4 blast in a round, like any map chicken, but that only unlocks photo booth effects and Field Incident Report pages early. The pet itself only leaves when its food runs out or it reaches old age.[1]
Common mistakes
- Claiming the egg without noticing it costs both weekly picks. You get the egg and nothing else.[1][2]
- Expecting to sell or trade it later. Eggs, feed and the pet are all untradable.[1][2]
- Leaving the egg past its hatch date. An egg nobody comes back for in time never hatches.[1]
- Waiting for the bowl to empty. "Running low on food" gives 9 days of warning, which is one Care Package window.[1]
- Expecting a chick in your matches. It stays in the menus until it is a pullet.[1]
- Expecting to pick the breed or colour. Both are random.[1][2]
- Treating the pet as permanent. It leaves at old age or when it starves, and only the photo book stays on your profile.[1]
- Assuming the two colour counts are drop rates. They are file counts, and one source contradicts the other.[1][2]