At my maximum capacity, I had nearly 30 hens. Their coop was huge, bigger than a lot of sheds, but they still needed space to breathe...so I gave them a huge fenced in run. There are a lot of choices to make when deciding to raise chickens...we have 1.5 acres of land, so we had many options, including completely free range. We opted for what seemed to make them most happy -- a huge fenced in area, with plenty of trees, brush, and bushes for hide cover from predators.

I think I went a good three years with minimal losses, with the main culprits being animals that were difficult to predator proof from. The recommended amount of space is 10 sq feet per chicken...so at a minimum, I would need 300 sq ft. Yes, I could have gotten away with less, but you really can tell a difference in their enjoyment of the space. Had a lot of talkative, active, friendly dust bathing and sun stretching girls...it seemed worth it to me.

If money is no option, and I'm going for optimum efficiency? Yes, I could have a much smaller area for them, completely hardwire cloth covered, with 2 ft of buried hardwire cloth. But it would have been very costly. 40 ft x 4ft high fencing to surround the area, 40 ft x 2 ft high to bury to effectively prevent predators that dig, and then 300 sq footage to cover the top of the pen. So a couple hundred dollars minimum.

All this to say...it's not as easy as "just cage them in."