Is it ok to only have two Hens?

[boxy1974]

In August of last year we got 4 hens about 6 weeks old. About two months ago one of the girls passed away and we do not know why. Looked very well but had no weight on her at all.Today we found another hen with a swollen eye and a smelly discharge comming from her mouth. Straight away we took her to the vet and got her on some drugs but she died at 6pm tonight. Now we are left with just two. Will they be ok,just the two of them or do you think i should get 1 or 2 to give them a larger group?

[Jardiniere]

I only have two and they seem OK but I worry that if i lose another one that the last one will be really lonely. That happened with my last lot, they dwindled down to one , she seemed fine on her own but it seemed wrong then i got three more and my old one died within weeks...... i actually dont understand hens.

[chris]

Well, as above you did the right thing not having just two from the start I guess.. I'm sure the two will be fine. If you wanted to introduce some new hens, then I don't see any problem why you couldn't - assuming the other two are ok and the reason for the two deaths wasn't related?

[Glutton4...]

I would say, if you have two, get two more. A lone one will be picked on by the others, whether it is the new one or the original one. Two and two is fair!

[RichmondHens]

Depends if you want to stick with two or go back to four again. Keeping just two is OK. As G4 says, it's easier to introduce two new to two existing. Just keep an eye on your existing hens to make sure no-one else goes down with a problem, and (if you can) isolate any new ones for a couple of weeks when you buy them to make sure they don't have any health problems.

[Suechooks]

The second death sounds as if it could have been mycoplasmosis. If it was me I'd hold off getting any new ones for a while just to ensure the others don't go down with it. Did the vet give you any ideas of diagnosis?