How Much Space do Chickens Need?

I was so glad to see this realistic article. I totally agree that it is best to give them as much space as you can. I have seen so many things that say 2 or 4 square feet per bird or some foolish thing like that and I know MY eight girls would not be happy in that situation. They love having their large pasture. I cringe when I'm on the road and see the little 4'x6' coop/run units from the local farm store and 6 chickens in it. I'm fairly certain that they are NOT happy birds, but the manufacturer decided that coop/run unit is for 8-10 birds and advertises it as such. I saw one online that was an 8x10 unit for up to 18 chickens! Wow!

So true! I feel like chickens need a lot of space, not what they tell you on the Internet. They need exercise, mental stimulation, a clean environment and the ability to keep busy to be happy and healthy.

A great article I thoroughly enjoyed reading! I have a young flock and an older flock, so it's going to be an interesting year. I've taken everything I've read into account and it's going to be a good year!! I've reassessed the fencing so I do a perimeter fence around my half acre landscaped yard, both to keep the chickens from roaming next year, protect from predators whilst they enjoy the trees and shrubs plus lawned areas.... Instead of doing a standard run which would be a triangle!
Thank you for a gear article!

I thought that this was well written and with lots of info for us chicken people.... I have had my flock of four girls for about 9 months now and have loved every moment....

Thanks for all the tips! I now need to add on to my run! I added a lot of chickens 5 months ago and they are getting crowded. Want to add a run behind the coop, but have lots of predators around so its not a simple task. Must be predator proof. I have an electric fence around my existing one and would have extend that around any new one as well.

There is a great deal of really good information in this article, but it's so long that it's hard to read through all of it without glazed eyes. It doesn't need to be shortened, or even reorganized, but some "bolded" subtitles or section headings (like those used in magazine articles) would help immensely! They would make reading and absorbing the information much easier, and would make it possible to relocate specific bits of information.
All in all, nicely done!