Down to 2 hens, now what?

[Dave TBG]

We started this chicken journey a little over 3 years ago. We hadn't planned to have more than a few and had planned to get one of those pre-fab coops that claims to be big enough for 8-10 chickens and found a spot in our tiny suburban back yard where it would fit. After some research we realized how much space we should be planning for and our little spot was only big enough for 4 hens, that's OK, we only wanted 3 or 4 anyway. Due to the minimum purchase requirement we ended up with 4. All was well for 3 years.
A few weeks ago, Penelope (a Black Star) seemed to be I'll. My wife did some research and ordered medication. We moved her to a dog crate in the house for quarantine and treated her, she seemed to improve a little but then got worse again and passed a week later.
OK, 3 hens left, but they seemed to be healthy and all was well until a few days ago when Bea (an ISA Brown) suddenly became listless. The dog crate was set up again (thoroughly cleaned and disinfected) and Bea was quarantined. The next day her breathing was labored and she passed that night. I suspect a respiratory illness, which is not what my wife had treated Penelope for, but I suspect my wife had misdiagnosed it.
Now for my concern. I know chickens are colonial animals and I'm not sure how a flock of 2 will do. Is 2 enough for a flock? The 2 remaining girls, Petunia (Leghorn) and Nugget (RIR) have always been the strongest and appear very healthy. Nugget had bullied the 2 others in the past, should we expect her to target Petunia now? Is it OK to have just the 2? Is it even possible to integrate another chicken or 2 into the remaining "flock" (after further quarantine, of course)? I'm not sure where to go from here.

 

[aart]

Is it OK to have just the 2?

Yes.
But might start thinking about if you want more in the future.
Hard to integrate with such small number of birds in such a small space.

 

[muddy75]

We started this chicken journey a little over 3 years ago. We hadn't planned to have more than a few and had planned to get one of those pre-fab coops that claims to be big enough for 8-10 chickens and found a spot in our tiny suburban back yard where it would fit. After some research we realized how much space we should be planning for and our little spot was only big enough for 4 hens, that's OK, we only wanted 3 or 4 anyway. Due to the minimum purchase requirement we ended up with 4. All was well for 3 years.
A few weeks ago, Penelope (a Black Star) seemed to be I'll. My wife did some research and ordered medication. We moved her to a dog crate in the house for quarantine and treated her, she seemed to improve a little but then got worse again and passed a week later.
OK, 3 hens left, but they seemed to be healthy and all was well until a few days ago when Bea (an ISA Brown) suddenly became listless. The dog crate was set up again (thoroughly cleaned and disinfected) and Bea was quarantined. The next day her breathing was labored and she passed that night. I suspect a respiratory illness, which is not what my wife had treated Penelope for, but I suspect my wife had misdiagnosed it.
Now for my concern. I know chickens are colonial animals and I'm not sure how a flock of 2 will do. Is 2 enough for a flock? The 2 remaining girls, Petunia (Leghorn) and Nugget (RIR) have always been the strongest and appear very healthy. Nugget had bullied the 2 others in the past, should we expect her to target Petunia now? Is it OK to have just the 2? Is it even possible to integrate another chicken or 2 into the remaining "flock" (after further quarantine, of course)? I'm not sure where to go from here.

2 wiil be fine for now, but if already 3+ years they may start slowing down in laying (if eggs are your reason for keeping). You may want to consider growing out some new girls and/or acquiring a couple at POL to quarantine/integrate

 

[Acre4Me]

The first Q is: do you want to continue with chickens? As in, continue getting eggs. If No, then you will keep these two until they pass on, or you can sell them at auction, or advertise on CL, or talk to a person that may want them (friend, etc).

If yes, you do want to continue keeping chickens, then you will do one if the following: A. sell the two you have and get 4 new ones. B. Keep these two where they are and restart with 4 new ones in an adjacent area, but separated (now you have two areas, but can easily do a 2 or 3 year cycle of new chicks). C. Get two new ones and work on integration, which may be easy or rough- you won’t know until you try. But if you get chicks, you will need a separate area for awhile.

But, just two chickens is just fine for now-they are flock animals and have each other for now.

 

[Dave TBG]

Thanks to both of you! While egg production is nice, my wife does view them as only a small step behind the dogs in the pecking order. We've become empty nesters since the girls came along and the 2 remaining hens keep up with our needs for now. The 2 we lost hadn't laid this year, being hybrids I assumed they were done already and knew they had shorter life expectancy and I suspect more susceptible to illness.
I'm a little torn on adding to the flock, I'm thinking about a cross country move in a few years and I have no idea how to pack a chicken, on the other hand, I do want what's best for them in the mean time. I'll add if needed but I'm not sure if I should or even how to do it

 

[Dave TBG]

The first Q is: do you want to continue with chickens? As in, continue getting eggs. If No, then you will keep these two until they pass on, or you can sell them at auction, or advertise on CL, or talk to a person that may want them (friend, etc).

If yes, you do want to continue keeping chickens, then you will do one if the following: A. sell the two you have and get 4 new ones. B. Keep these two where they are and restart with 4 new ones in an adjacent area, but separated (now you have two areas, but can easily do a 2 or 3 year cycle of new chicks). C. Get two new ones and work on integration, which may be easy or rough- you won’t know until you try. But if you get chicks, you will need a separate area for awhile.

But, just two chickens is just fine for now-they are flock animals and have each other for now.

Thank you, you replied while I was typing my last post but I do appreciate your input. I read your list of options to my wife and she was pretty quick to say no to option A. I was pretty quick to veto option B but then realized that the current setup might help with option C.
We do have a chick sized chicken tractor parked just across a walkway from the coop. It's all of 2 feet tall and about 8'x2.5', I might be able to add a small coop, big enough for 2, not full grown chicks, with hopes of integrating them in the future.
I'm not in an area where chickens are common, I only know of 2 coops within 20 miles and I doubt there would be an auction near here. I'll take a look at CL but it looks like Petunia and Nugget are here to stay and the footprint doesn't have much flexibility.