trying to raise my chicks to health

[tiffanyallotta]

I am relatively new to chickens. I have 6 healthy Chickens from last years batch of chicks. Wanted to add to my flock this year. I am having a couple of issues, and I amwould appreciate any and all advice. First of all, most of my chicks come from the same individual, who I recently found out, orders from hatcheries. I have several different breeds in a room inside my house. Meey brooder is a Med sized child's swimming pool with shavings. I have ono, but te heat light.(they are now over two weeks old) I seem to have an outbreak of conjunctivitis. From what I read, this may be the start if upper respiratory issues. I am treating all of them with terra-vet 25g tetracycline hydrochloride activity. You really need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the dosage. Good thing my hubby works in pharmacy. We are giving .5 grams per gallon once a day for 10-14 days. I am seeing some improvement. Its been 5 days and all have their eyes open. I also have another smaller cage with a light with 4 chicks that are less than a week old. One was sneezing. At the referral of my feed store, they are getting the same treatment. My concern is if I am doing all that I can. I had a similar problem last year and I found apple cider vinegar worked better than the meds. My girls began with two tablespoons per gallon and kept that through winter. I now have them at 1 tablespoon per gallon. I am currently only using the meds for the chucks. I was afraid the acv might interfere with the antibiotics. And, as a side note, my chicken person advised me to use sulmet in the chicks water at 1tablespoon per large mason jar, everytime they get water. I was doing this the first week, til I noticed the first chick with eye issues. I have since stopped, but read that it is also an antibiotic. I already use medicated chick starter. I am afraid I may have caused irreversible damage by following his instructions. All of his flick seems very healthy. Any suggestions on that as well would be appriciated. I swear, these lil chicks make me a nervous wreck! I check several times a day (3+) for pasty butt, eyes, breathing and overall health. I want to catch any illnesses as soon as I can.

 

[SA Farm]

What type of shavings do you use? I'm hoping you're using pine as cedar can cause respiratory problems and death.
It sounds like your chicks are already way over-medicated. I use non-medicated chick starter, have my chicks on pine shavings, and I do give them organic ACV in their water. I'm not sure what to tell you other than that's what's been working for me.
Pasty butt is common with chicks in an environment that is too hot for them. If they're scattered on the edges of the heat lamp, it's too hot, if they're huddled underneath, they're too cold. Way better than gauging by temperature, just so you know