We have 5 new baby chicks and new at raising them

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

We bought 6 new-born baby chicks - 2 Plymouth Rocks, 2 Partridge Cochins, and 2 Sultans all pullets on 09/08/10. We lost 1 of our Sultans yesterday, and really need some suggestions on how to insure that we don't lose any more.
I raised 9 chicks (rhode islands, plymouth rocks, and leghorns) 2 years ago and had no problems with them but for some reason these new 1's seem to be different.
We were told to put them on an antibiotic treatment and electrolytes (gatorade in water). How long should we keep them on this treatment?

 

[pnuts]

keep them under a heat lamp, buy them chick feed, & give them water and thats all there is to it that i know

 

[Morgan7782]

First off, welcome to BYC and the addicting world of chickens! Expect that 5 to grow into 10 or 20 soon enough and get a coop accordingly lol!

One thing, antibiotics are grossly overrated. A lot of time they mask symptoms but do not cure anything. I would use these on a last resort basis. Also, new chicks die fairly often from a number of things. Most common is failure to thrive and it seems fairly common in chicks.

I agree with above post, fresh water, pine shavings and chick starter (either medicated or unmedicated depending on preference). The electrolytes are fine to give, but I would avoid antibiotics for now personally.

A few tips and tricks:

Don't rely a hundred percent on a thermometer for the brooder, go by what the chicks are doing. If they are huddled under heat lamp they are too cold, if they are spread as far as they can be they are too hot. They should be milling around, checking things out, and beware of the sleepy chick! They look like they are falling over dead lol. Also, handle them often for tamer chickens. Some breeds are suseptable to flightiness, but usually the more they are handled at a young age the better.

Good luck! Can't wait to see pictures

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

@pnut and Morgan7782, thank you for your help.
I was wondering about the antibiotics because I hadn't had to use them before and the 1st 9 grew up to be beautiful chickens (my boyfriend at the time kept them when we split).
We only give ours 1/16 tsp in a half quart drinking container. But I just told my parents tomorrow will be the last day, that is a 3 day treatment for them, unless it deems necessary to administer later on.
I will post the pics of all them now and will keep up their growth progress in pics over time.