About This Guide

A compact, fully automatic chicken farm that produces cooked chicken and feathers with zero effort. Uses a hopper-dropper system with lava cooking. Perfect first farm for any survival world. This beginner farm build works in Minecraft Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, version 1.20+ and above. Budget around 10-15 minutes for construction — have all materials in your inventory before you begin.

Difficulty: Beginner

This build earns its Beginner rating because it uses straightforward block placement with no redstone knowledge required. You can finish it in your first survival session using materials gathered from early-game exploration. It’s a great confidence-builder before tackling larger projects.

Materials You’ll Need

Material	Quantity
Glass Block	20
Hopper	2
Chest	1
Dispenser	1
Lava Bucket	1
Redstone Dust	2
Redstone Comparator	1
Slab (any)	4
Carpet (any)	1
Egg	1

Total distinct materials: 10. Gather everything listed above before you start — mid-build supply runs break your momentum.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Build the Collection System

Place a chest on the ground. Put a hopper on top of the chest (sneak + place). This catches all items that fall down.

💡 Tip: Shift-click while placing the hopper to connect it to the chest below.

Step 2: Build the Cooking Layer

Place a slab on top of the hopper. Put a non-flammable block on each side (glass works). Place lava on top of the slab using your lava bucket. The lava sits on the slab and cooks chickens that grow into it.

💡 Tip: The slab is crucial — it holds the lava while allowing items to fall through to the hopper.

Step 3: Build the Chicken Chamber

Build a 1x1 glass column 2 blocks tall above the lava. This is where adult chickens will live. Place a carpet on top of the glass column — chickens stand on this.

💡 Tip: Baby chickens are small enough to fall through carpet — they drop into the lava once they grow up.

Step 4: Add the Egg Dispenser

Place a dispenser facing into the chicken chamber. Connect a hopper on top of the dispenser (this feeds eggs into it). Put a second hopper leading from the chicken area into the top hopper.

💡 Tip: The dispenser shoots eggs into the chamber, which hatch baby chickens.

Step 5: Wire the Redstone Clock

Place a redstone comparator next to the dispenser. Connect redstone dust in a small loop back to the dispenser. This creates a clock that fires the dispenser whenever eggs are available.

💡 Tip: The comparator detects when eggs are in the dispenser and triggers it automatically.

Step 6: Start the Farm

Throw one egg into the chicken chamber to get your first chicken. Once you have at least one chicken laying eggs, the farm runs itself forever. Cooked chicken and feathers appear in the chest.

💡 Tip: Throw multiple eggs to speed up the initial breeding. More chickens = more eggs = faster production.

Tips & Tricks

Shift-click while placing the hopper to connect it to the chest below.
The slab is crucial — it holds the lava while allowing items to fall through to the hopper.
Baby chickens are small enough to fall through carpet — they drop into the lava once they grow up.
The dispenser shoots eggs into the chamber, which hatch baby chickens.
The comparator detects when eggs are in the dispenser and triggers it automatically.
Throw multiple eggs to speed up the initial breeding. More chickens = more eggs = faster production.
Run the farm AFK for 20–30 minutes after building to stockpile a large initial batch of resources.
Take a screenshot of the finished build from multiple angles — you’ll thank yourself when you want to recreate it in a future world.
Label a nearby chest with a sign so you can dump leftover materials immediately and keep your inventory clean.