Greetings.
I am a man in a suit who has fallen into the world of Minecraft.
Last time, I built an automatic wool farm where a sheep eating grass activates a pair of shears.
This time, I am building a chicken coop near that sheep hut.
The idea is to collect the eggs that the chickens lay naturally, using hoppers below the floor to carry them into a chest.
Only the egg collection will be automatic.
Bringing in the chickens and feeding them will still be jobs for this old man (laughs).
Building a 3×3 hopper floor
I choose a small open patch overlooking the buildings of the castle town.
After leveling the ground, I begin a coop with a five-by-five outer footprint.
While searching nearby, I find chickens living naturally in the area!
With seeds in my hand, two of them look up and come close together.
Sadly, during construction, I place a block too close to one nearby chicken and lose it in the accident….
From now on, I need to check the ground carefully whenever I work around animals.
The coop needs a lot of iron, so I head to the mine and gather the materials.
When I return, I cover the three-by-three interior with hoppers and point the outer ones toward the center.
With the floor ready, I build up the walls using cobblestone and stone bricks.
There are no windows or door yet, but the little building is beginning to look like a proper coop.
Welcoming two chickens and watching the egg collection
I add glass windows and a door, then welcome two adult chickens found nearby into the coop.
They are already walking around on top of the hopper floor.
Minecraft’s official article A Working Chicken Coop introduces a coop where hoppers collect eggs laid by chickens and carry them into a chest.
The official Taking Inventory: Egg article also explains that waiting near chickens is one way to obtain eggs.
From here, I am describing what I observe in this particular coop.
An egg that lands on the three-by-three floor travels toward the center and enters the collection chest through the hopper below.
For this observation, I begin with an empty chest.
After waiting fifteen minutes, the two adult chickens have supplied five eggs!
That is only the result of this short observation.
It does not mean the coop will always collect eggs at the same rate.
The coop keeps running after the timed observation, and the chest contains seven eggs by the time I take this picture.
The count of five and the photograph showing seven come from different moments.
A little chicken coop joins the castle town
I place the door on the west side and leave a clear view through the glass.
A chicken is peeking out from inside. This is the sort of sight that makes me stop and stare for a while (laughs).
From a little farther away, the small stone coop fits into the hillside beneath the castle town.
After the sheep hut from the previous episode, the town now has another home for its animals.
A chicken lays an egg naturally.
The hoppers below the floor pick it up and carry it into the chest.
It is rather convenient to see the eggs arrive without collecting each one by hand.
But bringing in the chickens, feeding them, and breeding them are not automated. In this build, only the collection after a naturally laid egg is automatic.
Finally, I hold an egg and give a deep bow in front of the finished coop!
Next time, I would like to think about how to use these eggs.
That is all for this time.
Greetings.