1 week old chicks sneezing Please help

[CooKooMaran_babies]

Hello,

I have 6 cookoo Marans that are 1 week old. I purchased them at my local tractor supply. I noticed a few minutes ago that at least 2 of them are sneezing a lot. I pulled one of them out and her breathing is noisy and congested.

They are in a cage that has newspaper on the bottom that is covered with flake shavings. I'm feeding them purina medicated chick starter. The cage is always half covered with a sweatshirt to help keep it nice and toasty in the pen.

I don't know what to do to help them as this is my first time getting chicks on my own. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

I would immediately remove the sweater. They need fresh air. Lots of it.

Where are they being brooded?
Is the brooder dry? Can you post pictures?
How often is it cleaned? You should not smell any ammonia at all.
What is the heat source?
Do you already have your coop and run built for them?

 

[Boppo]

Here is a good intro article to chicken keeping that has more details, covers a lot and has helpful pictures. DobieLover has given you good advice.

 

[CooKooMaran_babies]

I would immediately remove the sweater. They need fresh air. Lots of it.

Where are they being brooded?
Is the brooder dry? Can you post pictures?
How often is it cleaned? You should not smell any ammonia at all.
What is the heat source?
Do you already have your coop and run built for them?

I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply earlier, I was at school. I removed the sweater this morning before leaving for school after reading what you wrote. Their cage is mostly dry. I did switch out their cage for one that was a little bit bigger. I don't smell any ammonia. I try to clean it every day, and have kept to that so far. As of right now I don't have an external heat source, the room that they are in is around 90ish degrees fahrenheit. I do not have an outdoor coop built for them, even so my area is expected to get up to 110 this weekend and I'm worried they would overheat. Since I've been home (around 30 minutes) I haven't heard anyone sneezing of wheezing.