Run size

[RoostRootFarm]

How big of a run do I need for 50 standard size chickens?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

500sq. ft. min..
If you want them to have forage, it needs to be much bigger.

Rule of thumb is 10 sq. ft. per bird for the run.

 

[RoostRootFarm]

Mine are free range now but I'm tired of them gettin picked off by hawks and foxes.

 

[chickens r life]

It will be a large and expensive task to build a run that large.

 

[GordonC50]

We will have about 8 chickens total (if my chicken math is right). Would a 8x12 foot run be adequate room. The coop is currently 8x4.

 

[chickens r life]

It will be enough room but if I were you, I would build a larger run incase you want to expand your flock in the future.

Clark

 

[Mojo12]

Holy Crap, Batman! That's a lot of chickens! I am having problems building a large enough run for my 9 hens and two roosters. I started out with one rooster and 7 hens. Built an 8x8 inside coop with laying boxes and roosts, water and hanging feed bucket, and an 8x8 outside run. Everything was great until one of my hens turned into a rooster through the magic of the local hardware/feed store, LOL. And for two years it's been pretty OK. Then a coworker with a broody hen hatched a couple of my fertilized eggs and gave me two of the chicks. Just the addition of two hens has wreaked havoc in our little chicken paradise! This spring we are adding an additional 164 square feet of outside run as well as another, smaller coop for one of the roosters and a few hens.
Sometimes, I wish we could let them free range, but then again, I like harvesting my own garden, I like having grass in my yard, and I DO like knowing exactly which day the eggs were laid. As it is right now, my hens all lay in the coop every day: everyone I know with free range chickens finds eggs all over the place and they never actually know when those eggs were laid.
I hope you live in the country!

 

[RoostRootFarm]

My plans are to have around 90 went it's all said and done. I'm in the process of building a new 16x24 coop.