My research on build versus buy all wire cages

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LionsLamb79

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I am looking at expanding my operation in the future from my small 50 hole to a 480 hole barn(Meat,Fur,Wool and Show) I , like many of you probably have wondered at the difference between building your own versus buying those 3 stack or even single prebuilt units. I was especially curious at the cost savings when I started looking at expanding to such a large scale.

Ok here goes..Since we have Am. Chins, Fr. Angora,and several colors of Std. Rex I know the minimum cage size is 30"Wx24"Dx18"H, if anyone has ever priced Klubertanz versus Bass you will know why I am going with Klubertanz.Don't get me wrong Bass has some great stuff and some of it is actually cheaper than Klub. but for most stuff Klub. can't be beat.I am going to start with the build info first because believe it or not it is actually easier to understand and do IMHO.My build goes like this, a 4 hole section in stacks of 3 so 12 holes to a 6'x10' section total, there will be 40 of these sections for a total count of 480 holes.The following prices are from Klubertanz website and are acurate as of 03/29/13.Using 1"x1/2"x24" for the bottoms I would need 4 rolls of 100ft wire at $145.20 a roll thats $580.80,using 2"x1"x24 for the tops again 4 rolls of 100ft at $447.60, for each of the 4 sides using 2"x1"x18" I would need 16 rolls total of 100ft wire at $338.80 for a total of $1355.26. Now that is galvanized after wire, which is good quality, just for wire not including door hardware, pans, legs or urine guards grand total without shipping, $2383.60. I realize the different sizes might be overkill in some people eyes, why not just get 30" and cut it to 24" ? Let me see you put together a 480 hole rabbitry and want to cut anything you don't have to? I have built before and I can tell you that after awhile you get tired of clipping, measuring and j-clipping, you are likely to have more rabbits than cages if you waste time, not to mention your hands ache after a while. Of course you have to factor all that other stuff in when you build yourself but when you compare the build versus buy I think you will see where you can save money.

Ok so for the prebuilt section, I want to say right off that Klubertanz offers a 5% discount on orders of $400 or more of any cages, that factored in with what they come with might do it for you. Since 30"x24"x18" is what I am going to be using I only did research involving that size, all of the cages in this size come unassembled except for the front panel with the door attached, if you are looking for bigger or smaller of course this comparison won't apply. Klubertanz has prebuilt cages in 4 different series, bear with me and I will illuminate the differences and I will let you decide their pros and cons. The J series is made with Galvanized Before Weld wire(lesser quality) they are sold in STACKS OF THREE and include Legs, Door hardware and Plastic pans, w/o urine guards $156.30 so for 160 sets of three to make 480 holes thats $25,008, with urine guards $179.90 for 160 thats $28,784. The K series is made with Galvanized After Weld (good quality) sold in SINGLE UNIT and include legs, door hardware and Dura Trays, w/o urine guards $71.70 for 480 thats $34,416, with urine guards $79.60 for 480 thats $38,208. The H series has options for both Galvanized Before and After Weld they are sold in SINGLE UNIT and include just door hardware they do not have a urine guard option, G.B. with 2"x1" side walls $29.90 for 480 thats $14,352, G.B. babysaver $33.90 for 480 thats $16,272, G.A. 2"x1" side walls $ 33.40 for 480 thats $16,032, G.A. babysaver $36.30 for 480 thats $17,424. The E Series is made with Galvanized Before Weld (lesser quality) is sold in SINGLE UNITS and includes door hardware and trays with support shelf built in, DOES NOT COME WITH LEGS, w/o urine guard $50.70 for 480 thats $24,336, with urine guards $ 58.60 for 480 thats $28,128.

It is obvious to me that building at this scale will be much cheaper than buying pre made units whether in stacks of three or single units. I realize that building cages is hard work like I said I have built before. Also that the built cages come with stuff that I would have to get in addition to the wire, door hardware and some way to suspend or stack them. There is also the issue of droppings management, since I want to stack my sets of 4 into groups of 3 obviously droppings go straight down so there again is another reason for considering the advantages included in a built cage. I have reserched that too, I plan on implementing some thing along the lines of the Rabbitech waste removal system, haven't drawn up the plans for that one yet but I am formulating it in my head. All in all I guess build versus buy is a personal choice, please don't think I am attempting to force my opinons on you, I just noticed a lack of info out there for this issue and thought I would share my research. Please feel free to comment, I said COMMENT not complain, rant or belittle. We all have our own opinions and ways of doing things. If you don't like mine feel free to keep it to yourself. Many thanks to Klubertanz, Bass Equipment and Rabbitech for putting their information on the internet so anyone can research it. (Just covering my (( o )) for copyright and plagiarism sake.)
 
Your wire numbers are for all 480 cages? If so then you will need more rolls. 30 x 24 x 18 using 24 wide for top and bottom. You have 2.5 feet for each cage top or bottom, which would be 1200 feet each. That would be 12 rolls of your top wire and 12 rolls of you bottom wire. This doesn't take into account the wire lost between cuts. The 18" rolls for the sides you would need 9 feet for each cage for 4320 feet, so 44 rolls of that wire. This works out to $6812 if my number below are your roll prices.
12 x 145.20
12 x 111.90
44 x 84.70

Even at that price, it's a huge savings. Best of luck to you.
 
try talking with Nancy @ 678-947-3162
she and her husband are rabbit supply venders in GA
their cages are THE BEST! double dipped galvanized, good and strong, reasonable priced .... you can't ask for better.
 
If you're going with that many cages, yes, by all means, building them yourself will be much cheaper over the long haul. One thing I would compel you to do is to get an electric saw. Not really sure what the proper term for it is, but it will greatly reduce the amount of wear and tear your hands will be subjected to otherwise.

Also, consider ordering the front panels with the doors on them pre-made by Klubertanz. It will ultimately save you a significant amount of time and aggravation. I prefer the doors to swing out, mainly because they can then be utilized to install a feeder or hay rack on that way. If the doors swing up and inside the cage, it's going to present some issues in trying to do any rabbit handling with a feeder or hay rack installed.
 
I would build them myself as well.
you may want to look into getting either a 4 inch angle grinder with cut off wheels, or a drimial tool with cut off wheels.
and there is also a power tool for the j-clips. with making this many cages, buying a few power tools would pay off in the long run, and save your hands.
good luck with this project, keep us posted with it, and post pictures. I would like to see your cages, and set up.
 
@ Ckcs you are absolutely right, I just didn't go one step further in my math thank you for the correction, I was 2 am and I was quite tired when I was compiling and posting this last night.Thank you and best of luck to us all in this world of rascally rabbits.
@ tailwagging thank you for the information I will definetly look them up when the time gets a little closer.Do they have a business website?
@SatinsRule I completely agree about the electric shears as they are called on Klubertanzs' website also looking at the large wire cutters they have too_Oh I can't stand cages with the flip in door, ain't nothing as frustrating as reaching in to catch a rabbit that has spazzed out on you or to retrieve a doe and the bleeping thing falls down on your arm, trapping your hand in the rabid rabbits cage and possibly cutting yourself in the process.
@CWD can a man have too many tools?, just ask my shed, thanks for the suggestions about the dremel tool, I think if I don't use door frames and liners I would definetly use the dremel a lot more. I will definetly upload my progress along the way, thanks for the support Y'all!
 
I was thinking about your project. How could you build the most cages with the least cutting and work? You could make a jig from a 4x8 sheet of plywood and put it on legs at your waist height. Roll two layers of 24" floor wire and one 18" layer of side wire. Sandwich the side wire between the two layers of floor wire and clip together....Then flip the top floor layer flat on the table and you will have the floors and divider of an 8 foot bank of cages. If you did not cut the side wire from the roll, you can bend it to go around the entire outer edge of the bank of cages, like a small letter "e",,,Now all you have to do is the individual cage dividers and ceilings. This is much less cutting!!! You can divide the individual cages at whatever size you want. 8-24"X24", 4-24"X48", a mix of 24"X30 and 24"X36"..Hope my musings have been made clear. It will take an assistant to help move the bank of cages, but they should clear most doorways if there aren't sharp turns to navigate.

Plus, if you place large headed nails in the corners of the plywood, they would help hold the project while you clip it together. Or small clamps. If you are worried about supporting the weight of this cage, I'd suggest hog panel under the floor center. Since hog panels are generally 16 ft long, they could hold two 8 ft. banks of cages.
 
@ owlsfriend, very good suggestion, the first time I built with my old show partner we did something very similar to what you are describing but we didn't think about using an elevated build platform, we did it from the ground, lots of lost J-clips and back and knee breaking, of course I was a bit younger at the time so I could recover a little easier, I don't think I would work from the ground again.

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions, after redoing my figures with a fresh brain I called Klubertanz because I wanted to get some price quotes with shipping and get their opinion of my ideas. Let me tell you folks, If you haven't had any experience with Klubertanz before you don't know what you are missing, They are THE source for cage making or buying IMHO, I spent almost an hour on the phone with Richard as we went over my different options for wire, I ran my plan by him and he worked with me on the pros and cons ,he gave me a lot of ideas and made me realize a few things I hadn't thought of, like if I was going to use trays with that many cages how much approximate labor time would be involved in cleaning, if I decided to go with a waste removal system like the Rabbitech one, I would not be able to have the three levels that I wanted because it would be too tall, those systems need way more space between the upper and lower cages. I am still at the indecisive stage so it's good that I still have time before I have to get this going. A few more things I figured out after talking with Richard, I put together some more figures of my own: To build the exact same cages I am talking Legs, Door Frames and Locks, Tray Slides and Trays and Urine Guards for my particular setup I would pay appx. $3000.00 more than what I could get them premade for. So that has me thinking, because the building where I intend to put this whole shebang doesn't have enough room for me to do only two levels with a waste system, even if I switched barns with the chickens which is longer but not as wide as the intended rabbit barn, I still won't be able to fit as many holes in, SO I am left with a few options either reduce the amount of rabbits (we all know how that work's, is there ever enough room for all you want to keep?) and go with a two tier waste removal system, build a three tier system based on the cages I want to replicate but end up spending more money not to mention the labor involved in building ( I will have maybe one other person helping, but I have a feeling I will be doing most of it myself anyway, y'all know kids these days), or purchase the pre-made cages in the setup I want. Klubertanz offers some great discounts on wire, pre-built cages and bulk shipping for either cages or wire for the quantity that I will need.. I like to build because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and I know how they work if they need fiddling with down the road, not that the pre-made cages are all that difficult to figure out but building may take more time and labor than I can give it. When I look at the figures building definetly makes more sense even if don't cut corners, but if I factor in labor and time as part of the price in my opinion it more than makes up for the difference. The clincher is the trays, I worked out a schedule on paper about how, when and how many would get cleaned in one day so I figured out how to cut corners there labor wise, now my concerns are tray materials, Does anyone have any suggestions for a sustainable, easily composted and obtainable material? With the tray setup my old partner and I had before (24 holes) we used pelleted sawdust like what is used in horse stalls it was great stuff, usually we would just shift the stuff around until it couldn't absorb any more then we did a full dump once a month. I would love to use something similar but for 480 holes that would be a substantial cost even if I bought in bulk plus I don't want that much cellulose in my compost heaps. I will be eventually be purchasing a pelletizer to process my own mixes for the rabbits, sheep and tilapia in my aquaponics so I might work on making my own sawdust pellets, definetly an idea! There is a lot to do on my little homestead well 20 acres ain't that small but as with any farm venture you have to take a lot into account before you even make a move to waste time or money. Any suggestions or comments would be most appreciated! Thanks again y'all.
 
if I might make a suggestion.....make your tops and bottoms out of 1/2 x 1 inch wire. that way you can flip them when the bottoms start to wear. :) All you would need to do is rotate are the front panels.
 
@ ladysown I saw a posting about that on here, very nifty idea! Of course with the auto watering system in place that would entail some fiddling with that too but hey might be worth it when it comes to that. That is why I prefer 14 gauge Galvanized After Weld wire, it tends to hold up a lot longer with regular cleaning!
 
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When my dog crate trays wore out, I replaced them with oil drip pans from Auto Zone for $10 each and set the crates inside them, due to rounded corners. As we know, rabbits tend to use the corners a LOT more than dogs....but I use these drip pans under the cages to help protect my floors. This way I can set the corners of the pans off-set from the corners of the cages. two layers of newsprint and a sprinkling of PDZ stall sweetener helps tremendously.
 

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