Should I let my chickens run around outside of the coop?

You may want to double check the standards for space per bird. I do not think their safety around the pool is much of a concern. My chickens are free range with three ponds in the immediate vicinity and nobody has fallen in yet. And unless you have planters at the waterline i do not see chickens spending much time wondering around the concrete apron. However, you are going to be in shock when you see poop in other places you can not imagine. Some folks will say you have to let them out in order for them to be happy. this is primarily a wives tale. Since i became physically impaired right after getting my coop built my chickens had to stay in the coop for a few months. They never tried to get out even when the door was opened to clean or feed. However once you let them out they will forever more want to be let out.
Don't chickens need vitamin D from sunlight?

They certainly need access to light to lay.
 
Hello Backyard Chickens. The coop my chickens are kept in isn't particularly cramped, but I do feel guilty about mostly keeping them stuck inside the coop in the months since I got them. Is it okay to let them run around in the backyard or in the house, or are they supposed to stay inside the coop?

Edit: The house backyard is taken up mostly by the pool, and is surrounded by bricks. If I can, how should I let them roam around?
I have a big pool that takes up about 35% of the yard but they love it. Yes they eat the dog food, org soy free grain, blackberries, home made croutons made with Org seeded bread, Org olive and avocado oil, Flax, seed and basically anything that moves in the yard and have poop bigger than any large dog does, but I scoop it up and put it in our fruit tree buckets in the green house and all over our gardens. You simply cannot buy soil like this anywhere. I throw food and meal worms AND their fav- GUT Loaded crickets in those gardens by the hundreds and they scratch and peck all day long, and of course poop in the soil while they are doing it. Great soil! And I get an egg a day with bright orange yokes !! They are characters these chickens, aren't they?
 
Yes definitely let them out in the yard. I have 7-month olds and just started letting them out 3 weeks ago. It's wonderful to see them run around and explore and do their thing. It's in their nature so let them!
 

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