Zombie Spawner Farm - Java 1-21-11

While 'spawning' refers to mobs generating in various locations according to game algorithms, a 'spawner' refers to a particular block that generates hostile mobs in a specific area. (See Wiki).

I found a Zombie spawner in an abandoned mineshaft not far from my main base, and decided to make a farm.

Looking at various tutorials I decided to follow Oink Oink's  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emaOKPjDivs.  

The drop rate was significantly better than what I was getting from my XP tower near base.  I had to wait less time to get a complete stack of flesh and smaller quantities of other loot.  While the Blaze spawner farm got me only blaze rods and XP, the Zombie spawner farm got me lots of flesh, iron and gold bars, and carrots and potatoes.

Zombies go down chute, you kill the zombies, XPs come out, and drops are stored in chest.

I also got two dead chickens, which made me wonder if chicken jockeys had gone down the chute, so I replaced the three top solid blocks with glass so I could see what I was doing.