Am I doomed?

[NovaChooks]

hello @NovaChooks ! welcome to BYC
It sounds like you've had a bit of a baptism by fire
But you have learned very important lessons for the future, and the worst may not happen. I have a young home-hatched one with snivels, presumably caught from wild birds or the environment, and while I think it has held her back a bit, and she's smaller than her siblings, she is holding her own without any help from me. Follow the advice Wyorp Rock gives you, and don't beat yourself up - we all make mistakes when we start out.

yes, unfortunately I agree about the baptism by fire

I thought it was going to be an easy thing - getting chickens lol
Turns out, it's more complicated than just that!

 

[NovaChooks]

An update on the contacting the breeder of the chicks.

He wrote me back and said he will take them back tomorrow afternoon. Doesn't solve my exposure problem, but I am relieved that I won't have to keep them...even though they're super sweet. :/
I'm hoping he keeps his word and meets me tomorrow afternoon

He also asked if I just wanted to swap the two I think are sick for two others he has that are 'healthy'.... no thanks ! :|

 

[NovaChooks]

be careful with the heat lamp! make sure they can get away from it if they are overheating!

the heat lamp is to one side of the cage and is only 65 watts. I have a little wood arch under it and they both like climbing up on the arch close to the light and sleeping on it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad you can take them back. I agree, I would not get replacements from him.
Hopefully the sneezing is just from dust/bedding or even exposure to ammonia (you met him right and didn't see living conditions?) You never know. All you can do is just monitor the ones that you have, if they don't show symptoms in a week or two, then possibly the cause was environmental.

 

[NovaChooks]

Video of the chicks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They are cute, but I agree, I would take them back.
I'm so sorry

 

[NovaChooks]

update on the sick chicks.

The man I bought them from did eventually meet me and take them back and gave me my money back for them. He said he totally understood why I had to return them and that he placed his whole flock on antibiotics once I told him one of the chicks was having trouble breathing.

After they were sent back, I cleaned out the cage I had them in really well. disinfected everything and threw out some of the objects that were in the cage altogether rather than trying to clean them.

I got four new babies (from another breeder) and I'm hoping these ones do as well as my first