# Tractor Supply chicks



## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

Hello everyone,

I bought some chicks from Tractor supply in late March, and they just got big enough to be moved in to the coop from the chick box. Now, the girl at Tractor Supply said they would all be laying hens. This morning when I went to check on them, 7 of the 10 appear to have started crowing.

We bought 10 production reds. Well... 3 are production reds. 5 are production whites. And somehow we ended up with one bantam. From my past experiences with Tractor Supply, this was a good batch since none of them died. But now I'm stuck with at least (I think) 7 roosters. Has anyone else had any experiences similar to this??


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## Becka (Mar 15, 2008)

Chances are folks who knew how to sex them picked through and found the females before you got there. Maybe you'll have some good fried chicken in a couple of months.

I've been impressed with our TS. The chicks were all very healthy and well cared for. They were separated by breed and gender.


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## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

These chicks have worked out better than what we ordered last time from McMurray's even. I am surprised. I just started going to this TS last year, and it is much better than the one I was going to before. I am pleased ith the outcome of the birds, but maybe the girl working there was just misinformed that there are mixed genders in their bins. We have another order coming in this month from McMurray's, so maybe I'll just add a few more laying hens to it (we have 30 cornish rocks on order).

On a similar note, the reason our last order from McMurray's didn't work out well was because we ordered 25 cornish rocks and 5 RI's and a week after they were big enough to go in the coop, every single one of them died like there was some sort of chicken apocalypse. Some were still sitting up in the nesting box, dead. I was thinking maybe disease, but a freind of mine said he thinks there may have been a hawk or something that frightened them to death. But our coop and run has a sheet metal roof... Any ideas on that one??


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## Home Harvest (Oct 10, 2006)

I have a love-hate relationship with TSC. I love going there. It's like a big candy shop for homesteaders. But when I actually NEED something they never have it, and they usually can't tell me when they will get it. The store manager LOVES to complain about corporate, and how the store has no control over their inventory.

Pet peeve: if you want people to come to you for animal feed, then you'd better always have animal feed in stock. The livestock doesn't appreciate missing a day becasue corporate didn't put feed on the truck. 

My local TSC just finished their chick sale. I didn't buy any, but I've got some broody hens and a turkey on eggs. I figured I'b pick up some non-medicated feed to have it on hand...THEY WERE ALL OUT OF STOCK! Did I mention THEY JUST HAD A CHICK SALE! Where do they think the folks who were nice enough to buy their chicks are supposed to go for feed?

Anyway, my wife HATES when I do this, but I love to stir the pot. The manager walks over while I'm looking at the feeds and asks if I need help. I say, "Dale, it would be great if you would just tell me where you hid the non-medicated chick starter." Dale says, "Sorry Russ, we're all out. There might be some on the truck on Friday (note: this is Tuesday). I say, "No problem. I'll just run on over to Agway. They seem to always have feed in stock." And I smile as I leave.

Good luck with your chicks.


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## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

My favorite Tractor Supplyism is when I go to buy something I buy only from there, and if they moved it or are out of stock and I ask for it, they say "I've never heard of that..." Happened to me with a wild boar attractant that I use weekly and buy from them.


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## southernmom86 (Jan 16, 2009)

Mine are from tractor supply to. I have at least 4 roosters out of 11 so far.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Last year I got sex links and they were what they were supposed to be. So far, this year, I'm still waiting to see what I'm going to end up with. I got 4 sex links and 6 straight run EE's. I hope at least some of the EE's turn out to be pullets.

My friend, who was guaranteed pullets so far has 4 crowing. She's not a happy camper.

I've personally boycotted TSC. The last time I was in there they were completely rude, more than usual. If it wouldn't have been that I would have had to made another 60 mile round trip to another place, I would have told them to shove their ducks.


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## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

Well just got home and really checked them out and I have 5 roosters, 4 pullets and the bantam. As mentioned above, this summer I will be eating a lot of chicken. I just helped my neighbor find his chickens on my back property (that have been missing for over a month) and found that his ameracaunas hatched out about 10 chicks back there that are now around 3-4 weeks old. He said if I can catch his hens, I can keep the chicks. Woo hoo!


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

White leghorns look like roosters, head-wise. Did you really catch each crowing or only guessing it?
They are supposed to keep them separated as the hatchery sends them in. I think red sexlink roos are actually white, but not sure.
Mine all turned out great, but it's always a gamble with feed stores and hatcheries. 
I got one red layer pullet, she is a girl. Got one white Plymouth SR, said to be a dual bird, looks to be a roo. Two white banty SR, it was obvious they were Silkies, ended up with a pair! Three "americauna" SR, which everyone knows are just EE mutts when you buy from hatcheries and when they are mixed colors in a bin. One is a roo and two are girls. I chose different colors to see what they would end up like and I have a pure white EE hen, very pretty! I'm just so glad they weren't nearly all roosters like the previous years!! [that's what I meant with the turning out great.]


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## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

I caught 3 crowing, the other 2 production whites weren't. But they all are about the same in size and have the same shape heads. As for the reds, all 4 look like hens. And yes, according to the TSC employee they should have all been separated and the bin we plucked them from should have been hens.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I've always had good luck with TSC chickens. The TSC we got them from were Cackle stock. 

Never had TSC "guarantee" sex on the birds. I've watched little kids switch the chicks from one cage to another, and the staff can't always be there to monitor.

Usually, we got the TSC chicks when they were selling them cheap to make way for younger, fresh stock. It's a great way to get nice birds for really cheap.


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## parrotman (Jan 27, 2008)

This is my first year for buying chicks from TSC and I only bought 6 sex-linked pullets. They are feathered out and doing well and they are all females.


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## cc (Jun 4, 2006)

I was really lucky to get my girls from a lady who raises chickens and just had more than she needed so she sold some and gave me 2 who she thought were about to lay. Well first day they were home they presented me with 2 eggs! The young 6 pullets came from my friend who has a petting zoo and she just gets straight run chicks and, guess what, they were all red pullets except for one that is black. Don't have any idea what breed they are. When they get bigger I'll send pictures so y'all can help me figure out what they are.


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## Home Harvest (Oct 10, 2006)

I complained mightily about TSC above, but I will say this, the past couple of years they have wised up at our local store. They now put stock panels around the troughs of chicks. No more little kids playing with the chicks and mixing them up. The staff at our store is always helpful and friendly (it helps that we know most f them from FFA and Rodeo). And while my stories about the manager are true (he reminds me of Walter from the Jeff Dunham act) the people really do try, but they are just out of stock of basic things too often for me. If only our local Agway was open on Sunday so I had a day to shop there...


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## Mulegirl (Oct 6, 2010)

Our TSCs don't really seem to know poop about chickens, unfortunately, but I've not yet gotten roosters out of batches that were supposed to be pullets (last year, I bought 6 chicks from them, 4 sexed, 2 straight run, and ended up with 5 pullets and a rooster) . . . though I am still trying to figure out what the heck the younger chicks are that I picked up a few weeks ago. The TSC staff thought they were Cornish X as well, but they're definitely not--growing slower, very active, and feathering out without looking weird!


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## CountryWannabe (May 31, 2004)

Home Harvest said:


> I have a love-hate relationship with TSC. I love going there. It's like a big candy shop for homesteaders. But when I actually NEED something they never have it, and they usually can't tell me when they will get it. The store manager LOVES to complain about corporate, and how the store has no control over their inventory.


I can relate - but I am pretty sure this is true. I used to order my feed from TSC on Sunday, for the following Thursday delivery. I always ordered 40 bags of assorted feeds. The manager would put my order in and have it ready on a pallet and wrapped all ready for putting on my truck. Recently, however, it has been really hard getting pig feed (few people around here have pigs) and sheep feed (this is cattle country) in the amounts I want. The manager has been very apologetic and I am sure she would get my feed if she could (I am a good customer - why would she not?) It's not as if she would be stuck with a full pallet of sheep feed while I took one bag ever few months... Now when either come in she calls me so that I can go and pick them up. It is simply bad business practice on part of corporate. If there were somewhere else within reasonable distance I would go there. However, there is not and my truck gets 10 mpg...

Mary


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## Huntmo1 (Nov 30, 2011)

Same here...I bought 6 (3 red sex link and 3 black)...so far they are about 4-5 weeks old and doing great...and, they all seem to be pullets, which is what I wanted.





parrotman said:


> This is my first year for buying chicks from TSC and I only bought 6 sex-linked pullets. They are feathered out and doing well and they are all females.


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## Matt73 (Apr 30, 2013)

So I'm sure this is a dumb question, but with the 5 roosters I got, I have a friend willing to trade me some pullets for a couple of them. My question is: are production whites the same as leghorns? Or is that like comparing RIRs to production reds?


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

good timing on this question. My 40 "Cornish Rock" chickens turned out to be some yet unidentified white chicken.....NOT cornish rocks. So instead of 40 meat birds that would right now be butcher age, I am stuck with 40 white chickens. I need to figure out what breed they are so I can sell them and get some of my investment back.


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## Tomthearcher (May 4, 2013)

Tractor Supply is the up and coming farm supply chain and is sweeping things off the charts in the Southeast. I was a Manager at my local TS here several years ago and I was always impressed with the care they demanded we take care of the chicks and Ducklings and such. We carried, Chicks, Ducklings, Goslings, even Quail from time to time. 

The problem with sexing the chicks is that many of the suppliers are NOT well schooled in the art of sexing baby chicks that are a day or less old. Then when the Chicks arrive in the stores, the Part timers that work there often don't have the time nor the inclination many times to take the time to read the labels and pamphlets and brochures. Even though we would take as many precautions and steps as was necessary, even we Managers would rush through the dumping process because of the store traffic. But even then we tried our very best to keep the sexes and breeds separated.

Then when the kids come and sometimes even the adults would pick up the chicks and and would not be paying attention to which tank they picked the bittys up from. Then when they would put them back down, almost always by the end of the day, we had all kinds of "mixed breeds and sexes" that we did not start of the day with. :Bawling: we stood behind the chicks however and occasionally we would have a customer bring back the chicks after they had them for a few weeks. 

There used to be a big sign that hung over the entrance to all the stores that said, "whatever it takes" meaning that we would not take no for an answer to our questions from our suppliers and we would do whatever it took to attain customer satisfaction. My store was one of the most profitable stores in the South and believe me, we had our share of customers who liked to try their luck at getting over on us but, before the day was done, we had won them over to our way of thinking.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

TSC is the last place I would buy chicks, seem the people dont take care of the, have no knowledge of their care or if they are male or female.


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## mjplatt (Feb 17, 2013)

I have looked at the chicks in the TSC location near me and never bought any because the pens they were in usually contained multiple dead or dying birds. The pens are low to the ground and can be accessed by anyone, including unsupervised children. I see customers reach in and handle the chicks with unwashed hands all the time.


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## carolinagirl (Jun 27, 2011)

mjplatt said:


> I have looked at the chicks in the TSC location near me and never bought any because the pens they were in usually contained multiple dead or dying birds. The pens are low to the ground and can be accessed by anyone, including unsupervised children. I see customers reach in and handle the chicks with unwashed hands all the time.


wow...that is terrible! My TSC chicks are really healthy and the pens are clean. They put gates up so only employees can get their hands in the chicken pens.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

My two local TSC are awesome. They too went to the cattle panel encircled chick tubs so that people can't handle the chicks. Everyone I know(maybe 5-6 people) that have gotten chicks from them ended up with healthy chicks that were what they were supposed to be in sex and breed. 

The people in the two I frequent are always super friendly and helpful. They couldn't order my rodent feed for me, but I understand they would have to order in a whole lot that would set because no one uses rodent food in bulk but me in this area(apparently). But for everything else, pretty darned good.

I found a local feed supply(mostly for big farms, not really geared towards people with a half dozen chicks, but they are happy to see any size farmer come in!) that orders my feed in. They have no issue discussing products or animal care and they (most importantly to me) have no issues using the phrase "I don't know". 

I've heard about other places that the chicks all die, but the ones around here seem to be very on the ball.


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

I have gotten three different breeds there this year and all were healthy. Mislabeled, but healthy. lol


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## ftcfarm (Apr 22, 2013)

We've never bought any chicks from TSC. We have always bought ours from Atwoods and have never had any problems with any of them. For the last year I've been hatching my own chicks in my incubator.


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

I have an incubator so I will probably hatch my own from now on too. I may even get a few white rock hens and a Cornish rooster and make my own meat birds.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

I've been looking for some Partridge Rock chicks this year. One store had some straight run Partridge Rock chicks in late March but when I got there the next day to get them, someone had come in and bought them all. I kept calling the stores in my area to check what kind of chicks they had each week. When I found out there were some an hour away, I went right away to get them. I got six straight run chicks. The employee had to go in an enclosed area and caught the ones I pointed to. They're a month old now, are very healthy and are growing fast. I was afraid I might have all roosters, but it looks like I might have two roosters and four pullets!. I've read that the Partridge Rocks from Mt Healthy Hatchery (which supplies our local TSS) are very nice birds.


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## Umble (Apr 23, 2013)

I wonder how much it has to do with the area. The husband and I visited the TSC up by our land the last time we were there, and it happened to be during chick days. The girl watching over the tubs obviously knew her stuff. The pens were clean, and all the chicks looked fluffy and healthy to my (admittedly inexperienced) eye. Our land is in a very rural area, where many people (likely including the TSC employees) keep their own chickens and other stock. The TSC near where we currently live, in suburban Maryland, is not so knowledgeable or well stocked.


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

Matt73 said:


> So I'm sure this is a dumb question, but with the 5 roosters I got, I have a friend willing to trade me some pullets for a couple of them. My question is: are production whites the same as leghorns? Or is that like comparing RIRs to production reds?



Yeah sorta... but at the same time, Leghorns are amazing layers so.... if it was me i'd swap them in a flash


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

By the way, over all, i just find TSC employees ignorant as to the chicks and thus I don't listen to any of them unless I find one who seriously seems knowledgable. But 90% of them the extent of their experience is what they read in the brochure that came with the chick day materials


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