Chickens have been around in Minecraft for a very long time. They are not only a source of tasty eggs, but also feathers and, most importantly, chicken meat. You can keep them on a farm, but you can also build a small machine that gives you endless chickens while collecting the most important resources! Chickens are one of the most important food sources for your world, but you should also collect the other two products and store them in chests. In this post, we’ll show you everything you need to know about chickens. We will also present a building guide for an automatic chicken farm.
Why Chickens are Important in Minecraft
Chickens are one of the smallest mobs you can find in Minecraft. They spawn when your world is created and can be found in many biomes. Often, they appear in larger groups. You can capture them and keep them on your farm. Like all other animals, you can manually breed chickens. Simply use seeds for this. Normal wheat seeds work, as do pumpkin seeds or melon seeds. This way, you can fill a large pen with chickens!
Eggs
Even in the Overworld, you’ve probably heard a noise near a chicken that sounds like an egg being laid. You can collect eggs and either use them for crafting recipes or throw them. Eggs are required for both regular cake and pumpkin pie.
Throwing is a much better option for the eggs! When you throw an egg, there is about a 12.5% chance that a new chicken will hatch from it. Sometimes, three will come out at once! This is an alternative method for breeding chickens and will also be important for the automatic machine. You can also throw eggs at monsters and other players, but they do not cause direct damage.
Feathers
Chickens have always dropped feathers upon death. For a long time, that was the only loot until more types of meat were added with the Adventure Update. Even today, feathers are still part of chicken loot. They may not be as important as meat and eggs, but they still have their uses.
Feathers are especially important for arrows, which you need for hunting animals and monsters. You can also use them to make a book and quill to write about your adventures. The brush is a new tool that requires a feather. Lastly, you can craft some firework stars with them. By the way, if you collect the feathers, you can also trade them with villagers for emeralds.
Chicken
When you kill a chicken or it dies on its own, it will drop raw chicken. You can cook it, either over a campfire or in a furnace, to get cooked chicken. A wonderful food source for your Minecraft world! You can trade both raw and cooked chicken with villagers for emeralds.
Interestingly, the chicken is directly grilled if the chicken is on fire and then dies. We will also use this mechanic for the automatic chicken farm!
Step-by-Step: How to Build an Automatic Chicken Farm in Minecraft
An automatic chicken farm is one of the simplest farms ever! It can be built very compactly and doesn’t require many building materials. A prerequisite is at least two chickens and a few seeds so you can breed them. A few stacks of eggs are, of course, also good. As previously mentioned, we use two mechanics here. On the one hand, new chickens are produced thanks to the eggs. Once they are grown, they are killed by lava. Feathers and cooked meat remain!
Materials for Your Chicken Farm in Minecraft
- Glass
- Building blocks
- Slabs
- Dispenser
- 2 Redstone repeaters
- 1 Redstone comparator
- Redstone dust
- 4 Hoppers
- Chest
- 1 Rail
- 1 Hopper minecart
- 1 Lava bucket
- 2 Chickens + seeds or several eggs
Detailed Instructions for Building an Automatic Chicken Farm
The collection mechanism for this farm consists of a hopper minecart, as it can attract items through a full block or a slab (which a regular hopper cannot). Use a double chest, into which a regular hopper leads. Place a rail on top with a shift-click and then place the hopper minecart above it.
Next, build a small platform at the height of the hopper in a 3x5 block format. Place a dispenser so that it points towards the hopper minecart. In front of the dispenser, place a stone cutter. This ensures that the baby chickens are not roasted, but the adults are. Above the stone cutter, use a cauldron filled with lava through which the chickens die.
Note: With a slab and regular lava, we had the problem that the baby chickens were pushed into the lava by the thrown eggs and burned immediately. The setup with the cauldron and the stone cutter is much better.
Next, you need to build the supply for the dispenser and the eggs. Use three hoppers connected in a row for this. Surround them with glass and slabs so that the chickens can be kept there.
The Redstone isn’t particularly difficult either. Be sure to consult the image for the correct circuit. Place the comparator behind the hopper. Behind and to the left of it, place the two repeaters. Ensure that there is a full block in front of the left repeater. The whole thing is surrounded with Redstone dust.
Now, you just need to fill the upper pen with the hoppers with enough chickens. They will lay eggs, which are directed into the dispenser. Thanks to the Redstone, it fires directly. In the small chamber below, the baby chickens grow up. Once they are large enough, they die from the lava. Initially, it may take some time, but gradually you will receive enough meat and feathers.
If you only want to collect eggs, then the upper setup without the Redstone and the dispenser is sufficient. But with this automatic farm, you will always have enough for it to run on its own.
Conclusion: Why an Automatic Chicken Farm in Minecraft is Essential
No one can really bypass a chicken farm in Minecraft. It is incredibly useful and provides you with ample eggs, feathers, and cooked chicken. And building the machine is not that difficult as long as you take some important precautions. It can run passively in the background, and you can collect the items now and then when you’re hungry or want to craft arrows. Continuously supply yourself with eggs and meat on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and build an efficient chicken farm!
