A COLONY CAGE FOR BACKYARD POULTRY FARMERS
How to build a better birdcage, including diagrams, instructions, photographs.
by Harlan Attfield
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Many town and city dwellers are becoming interested in
homesite farming these days . . . and, where local
ordinances permit, such an operation might well include a
small flock of poultry. If you've always wanted to keep a
few chickens, but held off because you thought that the
project required more room than you can spare from your
limited plot . . . well, it doesn't have to!
When necessary, although they won't be as happy as they
would in a large run, chickens can be kept in a very
restricted area and still enjoy good health and a
reasonable degree of comfort. That's the goal I had in mind
when I planned the cage you see in the accompanying
illustrations. The coop measures 7-1/2 by 3 feet and
provides brooding, growing, and laying facilities for 10 to
12 birds . . . enough to produce half a dozen eggs a day,
which is more than sufficient for the average family. If
you live in a mild climate where temperature, seldom drop
to freezing, this system may be just right for you.
On the other hand—though I believe the cage is well
suited to Fig 1 backyard poultry—keeping in the more
temperate areas in the U.S.—it wasn't invented for
that purpose. I designed it the island of Mauritius (where
I served as a micro-farming specialist with the Peace
Corps) for use by the Rural Reconstruction Project, a
division of the Mauritian Economic Planning Unit.
Mauritius lies off the African coast to the east of
Madagascar, and its climate forced me to a compromise
between my own inclinations and the realities of life in
that latitude. Personally, I prefer to keep chickens in
roomy grow ground enclosures . . . but because of the
severity of coccidiosis in many tropical countries, such
confinement often proves less humane than the clean
environment of a cage.
Colony cage, complete with burlap blinds
and egg shelf.
On the other hand, I hate battery cages. To allow a bird
only enough room to stand and sit—without even space
to turn around—is incredibly cruel. The EPU colony
cage is, I think, by far preferable . . . and even offers a
few advantages over the admittedly more natural
surroundings of the conventional chicken run:
Fig 2
[1] Ease and economy of construction
[2] Increased efficiency, which allows you more time for
other chores
[3] High percentage of clean eggs, and tow incidence of
cracked or crushed shells
[4] Prevention of roundworms and coccidiosis—that
nefarious chick killer—by means of the wire
floor
[5] Easy collection of manure for use in the garden
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