Aloha Paintedhorsegirl. This is probably not what you want to hear, but from someone who has been raising chickens on and off for 30 years, my advice is to consider the good luck of five healthy and put down the two sickly. The healthy ones are the place to put your money, effort, time and attention. The reasons could be myriad. My hens raise my chicks and I've never had a hen raise all she hatched. One gets stepped on, another is born weak or sickly; there are always a few losses. The five healthy will, in time, produce more chicks. I know what you are going through. Women, and mothers especially, are encoded to enrich and improve life, not destroy it. I am the worse. I had a rat attack a one month old baby just a few weeks ago. Brutal attack, but it lived. I kept it alive, hand fed it, kept it in the house. It became a pet. But it quit growing and no longer fit in with its siblings. I couldn't turn it back to the general population. He had tremendous spirit and I just didn't want to face facts. But I finally put him down. Honestly, the five need you. Think like a mother hen. She's face down a chain saw for her babies, but when the writing is on the wall, she turns away and concentrates on those she can still protect, the strong and lucky of her brood. Farming is not for sissies. Best of luck. jeannie mccabe
