Yes, you will always get conflicting answers because it's not a black and white situation. If you want grass, the chickens need lots of space. No one can argue with that. The 10 square feet per bird is the minimum recommended to keep the birds from developing "issues" like pecking one another. I think it's safe to say that many people on BYC, including me, don't have sufficient space to fence in an area large enough to keep them in a grassy pasture. But if you do, go for it! I really wish I could do that, I know the birds would be in chicken heaven. My good friend recently let her 12 birds start free ranging in her mother's yard next door. No problem killing the grass because they had LOTS of space. She had tried this in her own backyard a while back and the lawn was destroyed in short order. The difference, of course, was the size of the 2 yards.... large vs small.
I loved the suggestion above about partitioning sections of it off to allow for re-growth. I've seen several articles about doing just that, and how successful it is. I think the best one I saw was a moderate sized enclosure directly outside the coop door that had multiple gates built in. Each gate opened onto a separate section of the really big garden/pasture area. The owner could easily direct the chickens into the desired area. Every few days they would simply have the birds go to a different area so the grass had a chance to recover. It's the same idea as people using tractors that get moved around the yard/pasture.... but without the physical labor of moving the tractor. Love It!
Good luck .... and get used to hearing conflicting answers. With a good sense of humor and your own common sense you'll recognize the answer that's going to work for you.
