Abstract
A method is given for the calculation of the area of animal accommodation needed to produce a given output of small laboratory animals. This method depends on determining the number of cages needed according to productivity, the age of animals at time of use, the proportion of animals not suitable for use, and the stocking density of the growing stock for the output needed. The area needed to hold this number of cages can then be calculated according to the shelf length taken by the cages, working space required, numbers of tiers of cages, and the proportion of animals that will be wasted due to fluctuations in supply and demand. An example is given and compared with actual results, and the effects of errors in the estimation of some of the variables are discussed.