I think they made the chicken super smart because of the short time frame in which you have to train him. Or should I say for your creaure to train him.
That was only when the official Black & White Servers supported CI. Now that it's been discontinued, I don't think anyone can play CI online. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure B&W Pheonix only supports online play for B&W1 itself.