6 week chicks sneezing all day long

[Christie Rhae]

I am new to chickens and now I realize I brought home 6- 3 week old chicks and put them in an outdoors coop. They had a box to huddle in but we had a couple cool drizzely nights. Now at 5 or 6 weeks a few are sneezing alot. There is no mucus or anything wet. But I can hear a little rattle when they sneeze. They all eat and drink and run after bugs, scratch in the ground and act like healthy birds otherwise. Just this persistant sneeze. One of them sneezes once or twice every minute. Their poop seemed totally normal till today. Today it is a little runny and brown. Someone even had what looks like blood.
I should also mention that when I went to buy feed I told the feed store my chicks were 2 1/2 to 3 months old. So they gave us a feed they called "finisher" that is not medicated I guess. Now I have them back on chick feed. I had been giving them little treats from the kitchen but have stopped now hoping they will eat more of the medicated chick feed.
I sure hope that my ignorance did not harm these little girls.

I see there are many message threads about sneezing and I was not sure if I should start another with my question or add onto another.
Hope this is ok.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Went out to check on them early this morning and heard three rattle sneezes while I stood there for less than a minute. Something is wrong. Gonna have to call someone today.

 

[Christie Rhae]

After researching these message boards and the internet I decided my chicks had some sort of bronchial infection. I sent my husband to the feed store and he described the symptoms and was sold Duramycin. I have been giving them this medication in their water every morning for 5 days now and they are much improved. Hardly hear a sneeze from the bunch. The package said to continue 7 to 14 days. Wondering if I should go the 14 days to make sure this bug is really knocked out?

 

[SarahBeez]

I don't have any advice for you but I wanted to reply & say thanks for posting. We brought home some babies from another farm & have a bit of the same problem going on... I had some Duramyacin on hand from when we got our day old chicks earlier this year & started medicating them yesterday. I hope to see the same improvement you are, I'm worried about my babies!