Home remedies for URI?

Four weeks ago, two feral mothers had kittens a week apart under my bay window. About 4 feet from my backdoor. The mother's are slightly friendly, albeit standoffish and not completely trusting. I can handle the kittens and they don't mind too much.

So, the plan is/was to wait till these guys are big enough and then turn them over the the Humane Society. I'm getting into the spay-and-release program so this won't happen again. Trapping feral Mama will be ..an adventure but that's a problem for later. The problem now is that these kittens have bad upper respiratory infections. In fact, one of them was found dead yesterday and it broke my heart. The rest of them all have it to varying degrees of severity. Obviously, take them to a vet. I wish... husband says no way. So I called around and got a quote anyway- $80 per kitten plus the cost of medication. Total cost would be about one thousand dollars. I tell my husband and he's absolutely not going to allow us to pay for these poor stray kittens that will be leaving us in a month or so anyway. We have cats of our own and we deal with the occasional vet bill for them and that's understandable. These strays are not family and therefore, he's adamantly not willing to foot the bill. I'm a housewife so what he says goes. I called the Humane Society, explained the situation and while the girl was nice, she basicly said they wouldn't be able to provide medical care for these guys and if I brought them in as is, they'd be humanly put down. 

What can I do? I wipe out the gook that's built up around the eyes (gluing them shut with yucky yellowish fluid) with water and clean washcloths. Dry the little faces off and they start cruising around, way happier to be able to see again. This is day three of doing this. I read that a used, moistened teabag can help since the tannin in the tea can pull out the infection. Anyone heard of this or used successfully?

What kind of tea? All I have is orange spice? I'm so upset that I can't just take them to the vet and am quite pissed off at my husband. When it comes to money- animal lives are worth it. Sigh. So yea. What would you do? How can I help these little guys? See the white one in the photos? That's who I found dead yesterday. I'm at my wits end here, guys. Any tips? What can I do?

URIs can progress VERY rapidly in kittens and cause serious problems (and death.)

I saw where you posted on another thread about Lysine doses. Kittens can have 250 mg twice daily. You can purchase "human" grade Lysine from many health food stores.

BUT, I can offer a guess that this will NOT be enough for such young kittens with immature immune systems. You need some antibiotic eye ointment and an antiviral eye drop.

Many (if not most) vets will give you enough meds to treat a whole litter of kittens if you can take 1 or 2 of the kittens in that have the worst symptoms.

are you already in discussion with your humane society? If yes, they might give you all the meds you need, plus a vet visit.....

Yea, like I said, I called them and they couldn't offer anything but a needle filled with death. Got some colloidal silver. Here's hoping the claims of alternative medicine are accurate. 

I wouldn't put any stock in colloidal silver.  You have no personal savings I'm assuming to take them to the vet?

Wiping their eyes gently with wet cotton balls can help, giving them steam baths in your bathroom to loosen congestion can help, but they really need meds.  Can you google any small private rescue groups that might give you some meds like liquid amoxicillin for cheap?

If you're in the US, check on Petfinder for a rescue group in your area and call every one of them until you find someone who will help you.  Perhaps offering to foster them while they get better will help.  The rescues usually work with vets and are charged a discounted rate.  If you could trap mom and bring her inside, even while she finishes nursing them, it would help the cause.  Even if the rescue group could recommend a vet, it would help.