First flock for us, sick! should we return them?

update.. Havent had time to seal up the coop (i know i know..)

so it seems that every week there is someone else with this respiratory problem. One has had it twice in the past 10 days and now she has scabs near her mouth, though also on her feet and head and i think it is from pecking.. but she still has hard time breathing, just like the other one.. She gasps for every single breath... eyes scabbed shut overnight.. just terrible..

Someone please tell me it is time to get rid of all of them... start over with chicks from a reputable place like a farm and feed store....

question is.. we have read that we should wait 30 - 60 days to let the sickness / bacteria / etc.. get away from the coop and house. get all new pine for bedding, etc etc ... so the question is, what happens if we get baby chicks and keep them in the garage and under light for the month or so? would that be enough time to let everything clear up outside?

supposably, this is an airborne based sickness and we do not want to infect our new flock. at the same time, i do not want to keep the ones we have and someone gets sick and we must toss all the eggs for 2 weeks, not knowing which eggs belong to who. Also read that with giving them Tylan50, we can not eat the eggs.. Which is the only thing that gets them better (Tylan50)..

someone please help us out.. send us in the right direction. I had plans on closing up the coop this coming weekend and we got a cold spell around here.. was 45-60 degrees the past 2 days. i really hope the coop isnt the problem, though they also were "stressed out" over the holidays with friends and family in town and the kids playing with them. that said, i have 3 little girls that are always loving on them and holding them, which they love and fall asleep sometimes. so it isnt like we just toss them into a coop and hope everything works out. The free range 6 days a week in the back yard from 8am-5pm and always have clean water and food. the bottom of the coop as seen in previous pictures.. it is open and lets a draft through.. again, hoping this isnt the problem but i seem to keep coming up with excuses for this flock.. our first.. and we dont mind giving them meds when needed but not every week to make sure they can breath properly! know what i mean?

I think before you even think of getting new chicks, you need a definitive diagnosis. Your state vet should be able to direct you to where to take one for testing. Sorry you are going through this.

Just called around and found a vet that would give them an exam which is $43 per... That only covers me filling out a bunch of paperwork and the vet to shake my hand (pretty much, right?)

any tests would be on top of that fee and no idea how much because they are unsure which tests would be involved...

totally worthless place, though i get the idea.. they just dont know..

Well if you could rule out some of the worst diseases, especially those that remain in the environment it would be worth it and could save you money down the road. It might also give you the information you need to treat the chickens you still have. You only need to get one tested.

Close up the bottom of your coop. Drafts can cause upper respiratory problems.. and try to replace the chicken wire with welded wire as soon as possible. That is useless against predators and will facilitate a mass murderer.

I agree with Bizzybirdy, you really need to replace the chicken wire, otherwise you might one day not need to worry about your flock.
I would have the vet examin one to three of your flock and then make a guess that everyone had that problem.
Definitely close the bottom of the coop when you get the chance.
Chicks usually aren't fully feathered out till 8-10 weeks, once they're fully feathered out I would say it'd be safe to let them out.

Update on tonight's progress and the chickens...

Threw some boards here and there and closed up the coop except the one side which is right next to the fence. I will do it but ran out of light. Speaking of light, put a head bulb in there. 250w. Moved the ladder to the middle of the pirch in hopes of the current pecking to stop. They seem to like the spot next to the wall the best.

I am going to setup my GoPro to find the pecking culprit. Seems one has had the eyes attacked last night or this morning and blood is all around the feathers where she would tuck under her wings...

I'm having a horrible first experience here! But at least we are learning, right!!

Nice, hope you catch the pecker!