Chickens have been in Minecraft for a long time. They are not only a source of tasty eggs but also provide feathers and, most importantly, chicken meat. You can keep them on a farm or build a small machine that gives you endless chickens while also collecting the most important resources! Chickens are one of the most important food sources for your world, and you should also collect and store the other two products in chests. In this post, we show you everything you need to know about chickens, including a guide to building an automatic chicken farm.
Why Chickens Are Important in Minecraft
Chickens are one of the smallest mobs you can find in Minecraft. They spawn with the creation of your world and can be found in many biomes. Often, they appear in larger groups. You can capture and keep them on your farm. Like all other animals, you can manually breed chickens using seeds. Normal wheat seeds, as well as pumpkin or melon seeds, work for this. This way, you can fill a large enclosure with chickens!
Eggs
Even in the Overworld, you may have heard a noise near a chicken that sounds like it is laying an egg. You can collect eggs and use them for crafting recipes or throw them. Eggs are needed for both normal cakes and pumpkin pies.
Throwing is a much better option for eggs! When you throw an egg, there is about a 12.5% chance that a new chicken will hatch. Sometimes, three come out at once! This is an alternative method for breeding chickens and will also be important for the automatic machine. You can throw eggs at monsters and other players, but they do no direct damage.
Feathers
Chickens have always dropped feathers upon death. For a long time, this was the only loot until more meat types were added with the Adventure Update. Even today, feathers remain part of the chicken loot. They may not be as important as meat and eggs, but they still have their uses.
Feathers are particularly 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 for which you need a feather. Finally, you can craft some firework stars with them. If you collect feathers, you can also trade them with villagers for emeralds.
Chicken
When you kill a chicken or it dies on its own, it drops raw chicken. You can cook this over a campfire or in an oven to get cooked chicken. A wonderful food source for your Minecraft world! Both raw and cooked chicken can be traded with villagers for emeralds.
The chicken is directly grilled if the chicken is on fire when it dies. This is the exact mechanic we use in 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 is very compact and doesn’t require many building materials. You need at least two chickens and a few seeds to breed them. A few stacks of eggs are also beneficial. As mentioned earlier, we use two mechanics here. New chickens are produced thanks to the eggs. When they grow up, 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 Guide to Building an Automatic Chicken Farm
The collection mechanism for this farm consists of a hopper minecart, as it can pull items through a full block or slab (which a normal hopper cannot). Use a double chest that a normal hopper leads into. Place a rail on top with a shift-click and then place the hopper minecart on top.
Next, build a small platform at the height of the hopper in a 3x5 block format. Place a dispenser facing the hopper minecart. Place a stone cutter in front of the dispenser. This ensures that baby chickens are not roasted, but adults are. Above the stone cutter, use a cauldron with lava through which the chickens die.
Note: With a slab and normal lava, we had the problem that baby chickens were pushed into the lava by the thrown eggs and burned immediately. The setup with the cauldron and stone cutter is much better.
After that, you need to build the supply for the dispenser and the eggs. Use three hoppers in a row. Surround these with glass and slabs so the chickens can be kept there.
The Redstone is not particularly difficult. Be sure to check the image for the correct circuit. Place the comparator behind the hopper. Behind it and to the left, place the two repeaters. Make sure there is a full block in front of the left repeater. Surround it all with Redstone dust.
Now you just need to fill the upper enclosure with the hoppers with enough chickens. These will lay eggs, which are fed into the dispenser. Thanks to the Redstone, it fires immediately. In the small chamber below, the baby chickens grow up. When they are large enough, they die from the lava. Initially, it might take some time, but gradually you will get enough meat and feathers.
If you only want to collect eggs, the upper setup without the Redstone and 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 Indispensable
A chicken farm is essential in Minecraft. It’s incredibly useful and provides you with plenty of eggs, feathers, and cooked chicken. And the construction of the machine isn’t too difficult, as long as you take some important precautions. It can run passively in the background, and you can collect items occasionally when you’re hungry or want to craft arrows. Supply yourself with eggs and meat on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and set up an efficient chicken farm!
