Designing open faced coop with attached run for 15 bantams. Need advice

[FowlWitch]

Hypothetically, I'm going to have about 15 bantams (assuming all my eggs hatch and all chicks survive); how much room should I provide in a run-coop combo?

The breeds are Dutch Bantams, one silkie bantam, one bantam conchin-mix, one Old English bantam, and Svart Honas (not really bantams, but only weigh 4lbs at most). I'm going to assum this will be split with 7 to 8 roosters. I'd like to just put up a wall between the males and females to save space and resources, so we'll say 4 or 5 roosters on one side, and on the other 2 roosters at most (preferably only 1 Svart Hona male and one Dutch Bantam male) and the rest hens.

How much square footage should I dedicate to each side of the run and coops?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Bantams are small but very active. They need less roost space but I still give them the same room space. My run is 750 SQ ft for 40 of them but I just started subdividing it to include 2 8x8 breeding pens.

Are you going to free range at all? What are your goals?

 

[FowlWitch]

Bantams are small but very active. They need less roost space but I still give them the same room space. My run is 750 SQ ft for 40 of them but I just started subdividing it to include 2 8x8 breeding pens.

Are you going to free range at all? What are your goals?

I free range on the weekends, but I don't have time to freerange during the week because I don't like letting them out without supervision. As far as goals, I want to breed, but not until I move, so for now no breeding. I'm going to raise them up for a year or so, pick my breeders, then possibly rehome some. I won't be rehoming until spring, though, so I need enough space to house them until March or April

 

[Alaskan]

I would try for 10 square feet per bird as a minimum but 14 or 15 sure would be nice.

 

[FowlWitch]

I would try for 10 square feet per bird as a minimum but 14 or 15 sure would be nice.

so 150 sqft minimum in the run - i could do 15 feet by 10 feet. If I divide that in half and keep some of the males separate, then may one coop could be 7x5 and the other 8x5?

Edit: and at some point the extra males will either rehomed or eaten, so i can have that second half for the rest of the flock later

EDit 2: My math is confusing me lol 15x10 is 150 sqft. If I divide by 2 that each section is 7.5 x 5, right?? or is it 7.5 x 10? Spacial reasoning is not my strong point

 

[Alaskan]

Since the extra males are temporary... and you are thinking of rehoming them in the spring.... do you have a fenced garden?

I have stuck a net over the top of my vegetable garden, and put in a small coop... and housed extra cockerels in there. It is nice since it is quite large and they clean up all leftovers as well as the weed seeds. Then you could kick them out in the spring when it is time to plant.

I would just hate to build a second coop that would be used for only 9 or 10 months.

Or.... maybe an easy to move hoop coop for the males?

As to square feet.... 15 x15 would be a good space for 15 bsntams.... but more is better, and some lengths are easier to build than others.

So I would do 16 x 24 .... yes, WAY bigger than you need... but it is multiples of 8, so easy to build with little waste. Also, the extra space means it will be easier to cut it up later if you want. For example into 2 pens for 2 pure breeds and with a broody cage under a poop shelf.

Extra space is just nice!

 

[FowlWitch]

Since the extra males are temporary... and you are thinking of rehoming them in the spring.... do you have a fenced garden?

I have stuck a net over the top of my vegetable garden, and put in a small coop... and housed extra cockerels in there. It is nice since it is quite large and they clean up all leftovers as well as the weed seeds. Then you could kick them out in the spring when it is time to plant.

I would just hate to build a second coop that would be used for only 9 or 10 months.

Or.... maybe an easy to move hoop coop for the males?

As to square feet.... 15 x15 would be a good space for 15 bsntams.... but more is better, and some lengths are easier to build than others.

So I would do 16 x 24 .... yes, WAY bigger than you need... but it is multiples of 8, so easy to build with little waste. Also, the extra space means it will be easier to cut it up later if you want. For example into 2 pens for 2 pure breeds and with a broody cage under a poop shelf.

Extra space is just nice!

Since I'm rehoming half the birds with no plans to breed until next summer, I figured I'd just set up a temporary wall with some plywood.

I'm thinking of buying something like this to convert into a run: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BFPQ9PL/?tag=backy-20

Part of the run space is going to be sacrificed for a coop and the entire thing needs to be covered. It's more affordable than a dog kennel (which I used to make my last 2 runs). I am also planning a garden, but I haven't laid the seeds yet, so I'm not ready to give my birds access to it.

 

[FowlWitch]

Since the extra males are temporary... and you are thinking of rehoming them in the spring.... do you have a fenced garden?

I have stuck a net over the top of my vegetable garden, and put in a small coop... and housed extra cockerels in there. It is nice since it is quite large and they clean up all leftovers as well as the weed seeds. Then you could kick them out in the spring when it is time to plant.

I would just hate to build a second coop that would be used for only 9 or 10 months.

Or.... maybe an easy to move hoop coop for the males?

As to square feet.... 15 x15 would be a good space for 15 bsntams.... but more is better, and some lengths are easier to build than others.

So I would do 16 x 24 .... yes, WAY bigger than you need... but it is multiples of 8, so easy to build with little waste. Also, the extra space means it will be easier to cut it up later if you want. For example into 2 pens for 2 pure breeds and with a broody cage under a poop shelf.

Extra space is just nice!

I forgot to mention, but I'm a little limited on how wide or long I can make a coop because my property is on the side of a hill. I have to dig up a lot of soil to make a space somewhat flat enough for anything I want to build. To compound on that, I don't plan on staying at this property and will be moving in about 6 months. It's easiest for me to have something collapsible when I build my run so I can take it with to wherever I end u moving to

 

[Alaskan]

Ah... then maybe 2 or 3 chicken tractors are really what you need.

 

[FowlWitch]

Ah... then maybe 2 or 3 chicken tractors are really what you need.

Can you recommend a good guide on how to build one? I don't have to put wheels on them, right?