Tractor supply or hatchery?

[TheFugitivePen]

Do experienced chicken keepers prefer to buy chicks through Tractor Supply or hatcheries?

We ordered 7 black Australorp chicks this summer from Mount Healthy Hatchery. We received 8, and all are pullets and wonderful, healthy birds. Our experience was so great that I'd naturally be inclined to order from them again.

But they do charge a $30 shipping fee for shipping fewer than 15 chicks, and there's an understandable shipping minimum of 3 chicks.

Ideally, I like the thought of going to Tractor Supply and having the freedom to choose the individual chicks and possibly choosing only 2 as opposed to 3 (and risk the possibility of receiving 4 -- our run would be maxed out at 12 chickens). However, I have no experience buying chicks from our local TSC.

Is buying from TSC comparable to buying from a good hatchery? Or does the quality of hatchery chicks make up for the additional costs?

Thank you!

 

[1cock2hens]

My 2 cents, I love cackle hatchery! I'm not at all apposed to tractor supply chicks, after all they are just chicks from a hatchery too they've just made a stressful pitstop at tractor supply lol I believe that in tractor supply stores in different parts of the country they use different suppliers so not everyone's experience will be the same with quality etc

 

[KyCoop]

The minimum you can buy (according to their signs ) is 6. I don't know if anyone has had any luck buying fewer then that.

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

TSC chicks are still hatchery chicks (I think it's Hoovers Meyer?) that have simply been shipped to the store and put in a brooder. My local farm store does the same thing with their own supplier hatchery - I don't think hardly any farm stores use local sources or hatch their own chicks.

I have a similar timeline to you which is that I've ordered online and had good experiences, and recently I wanted just 3 chicks and the season had closed for online ordering so I bought at the feed store.

What happened was that I left with 6 (not 3!) chicks that didn't end up being what I thought they were, and the breeds I wanted had sold out earlier in the day. When you order online someone else packs your order and makes sure it is correct, and they always gave me 1 extra pullet which was nice. But buying in-store, the chicks were treated no differently than a potted plant, which is to say "you paid, now go grab the ones you want". And this turned out to be a problem because there were 2 breeds in each bin, and the only person who seemed to know the breeds was tied up at the cash register.

I think what I am saying is, if you buy at the feed store, know what the breed is supposed to look like as a chick before you go. You might impulse buy when given the opportunity (they are small and inexpensive! How many fit in that box?), and in some cases with TSC you will hear about straight run chicks being mislabeled regarding breed or sex. Unless you buy sexlinks, that is.

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

My 2 cents, I love cackle hatchery! I'm not at all apposed to tractor supply chicks, after all they are just chicks from a hatchery too they've just made a stressful pitstop at tractor supply lol I believe that in tractor supply stores in different parts of the country they use different suppliers so not everyone's experience will be the same with quality etc

Cackle stops in September and therefore so does ChickensForBackyards, sadly.

 

[Bkaye]

Our local tsc minimum this year was 4. I believe our tsc gets their chicks from Hoovers. The bins are always mislabeled. One of the last batches they had before chick days were up they had labeled as bantams but they were actually guineas.

 

[Isadora]

I prefer a hatchery of my choice because tsc is typically pretty limited on what breeds they carry.

 

[Bird is the word]

Our local tsc minimum this year was 4. I believe our tsc gets their chicks from Hoovers. The bins are always mislabeled. One of the last batches they had before chick days were up they had labeled as bantams but they were actually guineas.

Same thing happened here got bantams but turned out to be Silkies TCS can get very confusing but it's sometimes fun like open a mystery box I am very happy with my silkies and didn't expect it but anthor problem not sure if in your area it's illegal to own roosters but it is where I am and tractor supply chicks are straight run so you have no clue what gender you are getting

 

[Bird is the word]

Cackle stops in September and therefore so does ChickensForBackyards, sadly.

You can chicks from this website?

 

[Bkaye]

Same thing happened here got bantams but turned out to be Silkies TCS can get very confusing but it's sometimes fun like open a mystery box I am very happy with my silkies and didn't expect it but anthor problem not sure if in your area it's illegal to own roosters but it is where I am and tractor supply chicks are straight run so you have no clue what gender you are getting

My first group of chicks I bought this year from tsc. They were suppose to Brahmas. Not knowing any better we bought them. Once we got home we started noticing little things that wasn’t right for the Brahma breed. They all ended up being assorted bantams. What was suppose to be 9 Brahmas we ended up with 3 silkies, a D’uccle, 2 d’anvers, and 3 bantam Cochins. (I ended up with 3 cockerels out of the batch)

We later placed an order with meyers for our Brahmas. We were able to get the colors we wanted in the correct genders and couldn’t be happier. We just had to build more housing from the accidental bantams.

Thankfully we are able to have roosters where we live.

After that incident we have decided we will only order from hatcheries from now on and will forego tsc.