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Relax, two square feet per bird is international norm.
But I don't treat them like battery hens. I don't automatically trim their upper beak to keep them from eating each other. I don't control the light and feed like commercial operations. I don't have automatic equipment set up to assure ventilation and worry about the temperature, nor do I have automatic poop handling machinery. I don't practice the biosecurity measures needed due to the crowding. My chickens have not been specially bred to better tolerate the crowded conditions and produce so well they wear themselves out in a year or two. I don't spend all my time managing the chickens since they are recreational, not commercial. I let them out in the morning, sometimes after sleeping in a bit, and pretty much let them manage themselves all day.
Two square feet per chicken may be "international norms", but normal for what. Commercial operations, yes. My backyard flock, no. If you are going to use the norms for commercial operations, use all the norms for commercial operations. You can't cherry pick a few and ignore the rest. You have to understand what else is associated with the "international norms".
There are circumstances where 2 square feet per chicken is enough. That is in a climate and under conditions they have a lot of space outside where they can spend practically all the time they are not roosting or laying. But overcrowded chickens in a coop can easily resort to cannibalism unless you control that.
