2 Ways to Build an Automatic Chicken Farm in Minecraft

An easy-to-follow guide to building a chicken farm in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: February 11, 2026 Fact Checked

Building an automatic chicken farm in Minecraft gives you a solid, easy food supply of cooked chicken as well as feathers for arrows. The design and mechanics are a little different depending on whether you are playing Bedrock Edition (Windows, mobile, game consoles), or Java Edition (PC and Mac). This wikiHow article teaches you how to build an automated chicken farm in both Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft.

Automated Chicken Farm Mechanics

To build an automated chicken farm in Minecraft, you need to place chickens on a hopper attached to a dispenser. When they lay eggs, the dispenser dispenses the eggs and some baby chicks onto another hopper. Lava is used to cook the chicks when they mature. Cooked chicken and feathers can be collected in a chest.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Bedrock Edition

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1
Place the chest on the ground. You'll need to be able to access this chest when your automatic farm is complete in order to get your cooked chicken and feathers.
- This method works for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (i.e., Minecraft for Windows, game consoles, and mobile). It does not work in Minecraft: Java Edition. You can use another design for Java Edition.
- If you want more room, you can use a double-wide chest.
2
Place a hopper feeding into the chest. Place the hopper behind the chest feeding into it. To do so, hold Shift and click the back of the chest. You can use shift-click to place blocks on top of active blocks or attach one active block to another.
- To Shift-click using a game controller, press and hold R3 (right analogue stick) while placing the block with L2 or LT.
- To shift-click on mobile, double-tap the duck button in the middle of the D-pad on the left side of the screen. Then place your block.
- The hopper will allow the cooked chicken to automatically drop into the chest.
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3
Place a building block behind the hopper. You can use a stone block, or any non-flammable block.^{[1]
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- Flammable blocks include wood, wool, grass, and tree foliage.
Place a dispenser on top of the block. Make sure the mouth of the dispenser is facing the hopper and chest.^{[2]
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5
Place two observers facing each other behind the block. Place the first observer one block behind the block so that it is facing the block. Then place the other observer in the space between the block and the first observer so that it is facing the other observer.
- You should see the red light on the back of the first dispenser flashing continuously.
This block is only half the thickness of a normal block so it can collect items on top of the slab.^{[3]
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7
Surround the hopper and slab with walls two blocks high. You can use stone, glass, or any non-flammable block to build the wall. You need to create a chamber above the hopper and slab where chicks will be dispensed.
- Using glass blocks will allow you to see the mechanics of the farm.
8
Pour lava on top of the slab. You’ll need to locate a source of lava. Use a bucket to collect the lava, and pour it on the chamber on top of the slab.
- If you are using glass blocks, you will notice that the lava hovers a half space above the slab.
You’ll place chickens on top of this hopper. When they lay eggs, they will fall into the hopper. Some of them will be dispensed as baby chicks. ^{[4]
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10
Surround the hopper with walls two blocks high. You can use stone, glass, or any other non-flamable block. You’ll need to place a couple of blocks on top of the dispenser. Use Shift-click to do so. You can also use shift-click to place a temporary block on top of the hopper. Build a wall around the hopper two blocks high so the chickens can’t get out.
- Alternatively, you can build a wall one block high and then place slabs on top of the blocks.
11
Place chickens on top of the hopper. If you are playing in survival mode, you’ll probably need to build a staircase to the top of the farm. You can use seed to lure chickens into the chamber on top of the hopper attached to the dispenser. If you are playing in creative mode, you can use a chicken spawn egg. The more chickens you can lure into the chamber, the more efficient the farm will be.
- The chickens in the chamber will lay eggs that get dispensed below the lava block. Some of the eggs will be dispensed as baby chicks. When they mature into adults, they will get cooked by the lava. Cooked chicken and feathers will fall into the hopper attached to the chest, where they will be collected inside the chest.
- It may take a while before the chest starts collecting cooked chickens and feathers from the farm. Allow an hour or so before you start to see results.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Java Edition

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1
Dig a trench three spaces wide. You can use a shovel or your hand. You just need a space in the ground, three spaces wide.
- This method only works on Minecraft: Java Edition. It does not work in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. You can use a different method for Bedrock Edition.
2
Place a double chest into the ground. Go ahead and place two chests in the hole you just dug.
3
Place a hopper feeding into the chest. To do so, hold Shift and click the side of the chest, then place the hopper.
- If you want to check to make sure the hopper is feeding into the chest, you can dig a couple of spaces out in front of the chest. Just be sure to fill them once you check.
4
Place a fence post on top of the hopper. To do so, hold Shift while placing the fence post.
5
Place a cauldron next to the fence post. It should go directly on top of the double chest.
6
Place stone blocks on all other sides of the fence post. There should be a cauldron on one side of the fence post and stone blocks on all other sides.
7
Place a 3x3 grid of stone blocks on the opposite side of the cauldron. Place three additional stone blocks from the stone block on the opposite side of the cauldron. Then place another stone block on each side of the three stone blocks you just laid.
8
Place a glass block on top of the cauldron. To do so, hold Shift and place a glass block on top of the cauldron.
9
Place a dispenser on the opposite side of the fence post. Place the dispenser on top of the stone block on the other side of the fence post. Make sure the mouth of the dispenser is facing the direction of the fence post.
10
Place another stone block on the other two stone blocks. These are the other two stone blocks next to the fence post. There should be a wall on all sides of the fence post. This creates a chamber where eggs and chickens will collect.
11
Place a redstone comparator after the dispenser. Place it so that the two redstone torches are up against the dispenser.
12
Place a redstone repeater after the comparator. The adjustable redstone torch should be up against the comparator.
13
Place another redstone repeater next to the comparator. This one should be on the left-hand side of the comparator. Place it so that it faces the opposite direction of the other repeater.
14
Place a block in front of the repeater. Place the block next to the dispenser so that the redstone repeater you just laid goes into the block.
15
Place redstone dust on top of the other 3x3 stone blocks. Redstone dust should come out of the repeater facing the stone block and surround the other repeater, and end next to the comparator.
16
Place a hopper on top of the dispenser. To do so, hold Shift and place the hopper on top of the dispenser.
17
Surround the hopper with a wall two blocks high. To do so, you’ll need to hold Shift to place a temporary block on top of the hopper. Then place blocks on all sides of the hopper. Make sure it is surrounded by walls two blocks high so the chickens can’t escape.
- Alternatively, you can build walls one block high and then place slabs on top of the blocks surrounding the hopper.
18
Place lava inside the cauldron. You’ll need to use a bucket and locate a source of lava. Fill the bucket with lava. Then empty the bucket into the cauldron.
19
Place chickens on the top hopper. This is the hopper that feeds into the dispenser. If you are playing in survival mode, you’ll most likely need to build a staircase to the top of the farm. Use seeds to lure chickens into the chamber on top of the hopper. If you are playing in creative mode, you can use a chicken spawn egg.
- The more chickens in the chamber, the more efficient your farm will be.
- The chickens will lay eggs that get dispensed into the chamber next to the cauldron. When it gets full, chickens will clip into the cauldron and get cooked. They will drop into the chest, where you can collect cooked chickens and feathers.
- It may take a while before you collect any cooked chickens or feathers. Allow at least an hour or so.

Community Q&A

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Question

I can't find the observer block on PE

Community Answer

It is at Creative menu, then click Items, then scroll down to the end: that is where you will find the Observer Block!👍

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