A Chicken Story from Tractor Supply

[LaFemmeKatia]

So, at the beginning of this year, I finally got a new flock of hens after mourning the loss of my original flock of four black sex link hens. My current flock came in three separate sets of chicks from Ace Hardware and Tractor Supply, and the Tractor Supply in the town I was living in at the time of acquiring my current flock had a number of very nice heritage breeds among the common breeds. My first two rounds of chicks, I got with a friend of mine so we met the base requirement for 4 chicks/sale, and we each got two each time. First round was two black sex links(and two RIRs for my friend), then two barred rocks(And one easter egger and a red star). We ended up deciding a few months later that we were going to get another bunch of babies before the season was over and we would have to order them online, so we went back separately, each of us deciding to get four more. The original hens were nearly to the point of lay, but we had baby chicken fever. That is the curse of spring, after all.
Well, I went to TS on my own, in hopes of getting a pair of Lavender Orpingtons and Silver Laced Wyandottes. Now, i should have trusted my gut on the look of those baby chicks, but the worker there insisted that "No, THOSE are the orpingtons, and THESE HERE are the wyandottes." Neither group really resembled the chicks they were meant to be...
Regardless, I trusted the man running the TS Chick Cage, and ultimately was just happy to have more little babies to take care of, because, apparently, my life is incomplete without excessively needy, screaming baby animals all the time... which is why i have quail on the way now that the babies in this story are grown up; i really am a hopeless sap!
Back on topic, i was very hopeful about these beautiful little babies... until they began to feather out. Now, my goldies I'm still not sure WHAT they are, perhaps gold laced cochin, or cochin crosses, but i was 100% confident the other two were barred rocks-- which i was not thrilled about, because my older two barreds are THE WORST and they pick on everybody! (I should have just gotten four black sex links! Hind sight is 20/20, everyone.)
However, their combs have begun to come in more now, and theyve joined the rest of the flock, and the more i looked at them the more they looked rather different to my barred rock hens, and their personalities were so gentle in comparison. Upon doing some research, i discovered that, in fact, not only did TS mix up the chicks, but they gave me a pair of heritage chicks in place of some rather common (though sought after due to looks) chicks. I've been laughing about it all day, because every time i look at those babies i think about the guy at TS who probably ended up with dozens of calls from people saying "What the hell is this thing?? I asked for a (dominique/wyandotte/orpington/etc) and got a (NOT that chicken)!"
We have some STRONGLY breed specific people around here...

A funny note is my friend asked for four EE's and ended up with three and a gold laced Wyandotte. Not sure how that one happened! Oh, tractor supply, always surprising us!

Does anyone else have any wacky TS, or other ranch-supply type store, chicken stories? Or is my TS simply run by people who can't tell chicks apart?

Oh geez, TSC personnel are clueless about what chicks are what. My first time I bought Buff Orpingtons. Well, two died, one actually IS a Buff Orpington, and the other grew up to be a Leghorn!
(I was mad at first, but I got over it because she is just so cute!)
Another time I went back and asked which were the RIRs and which were the ISA Browns. They had no idea. I googled it and figured it out myself.
It’s a crap shoot when you buy birds at TSC.

 

[Josh L.]

Oh geez, TSC personnel are clueless about what chicks are what. My first time I bought Buff Orpingtons. Well, two died, one actually IS a Buff Orpington, and the other grew up to be a Leghorn!
(I was mad at first, but I got over it because she is just so cute!)
Another time I went back and asked which were the RIRs and which were the ISA Browns. They had no idea. I googled it and figured it out myself.
It’s a crap shoot when you buy birds at TSC.

It really is! You never know! Generally im not upset about the mix up, and I'm thrilled all seem to be pullets.
On a separate note, I am thinking of giving away my one older barred rock hen now, because she's picking on my tractor supply surprise babies(who aren't really babies anymore). One of my little GLCs are currently inside in a crate with a bunch of pillow fluff and a shirt covering it so she can recover overnight from being cornered by the adult barred and having almost all her tail feathers plucked Those surprise babies are the friendliest chickens I've ever owned!
(and if i wake up with a loose chicken in my house, well, thats what happens sometimes, i guess.)

 

[fuentemoon]

I haven't been to a TC here in Oregon, but I always look at chicks when I go into Wilco and am amazed at how often what is in the bins is not what the label says. I am not an expert, but it is often obvious!

 

[John2510]

I haven't been to a TC here in Oregon, but I always look at chicks when I go into Wilco and am amazed at how often what is in the bins is not what the label says. I am not an expert, but it is often obvious!

I didn't realize these were so careless about it. Considering how long many people own their chickens, you'd think the people selling them would put more care into it.

Imagine if the German Shepherd puppy you bought grew up to be a Dachshund.

For the same reason, I don't understand chicken hobbyists buying straight run. You're saving a buck or two, but risking getting a bird you're going to have to cull, re-home (to an unknown fate) or try to somehow integrate into your living situation.

If you have a large enough operation that more roosters are fine, or you're perfectly happy raising a meat bird, that's different.

 

[Mya05]

I bought 2 Polish Crested chicks from TC, the sales guy thought that the 4 chick requirement was unnecessary. I was happy about that, because I really only wanted two. Well, I also should've listened to my gut. I asked him if he knew the difference between males and females. If course, he didn't. Instead of googling it right there, I bought them, then waited a week to Google it. I now know that I purchased one boy and one girl We have decided to keep the cockerel, since we had re-homed our other rooster. He is just too cute, so hopefully once his hormones hit he will still get along with Omen, our dominant rooster. Here is a picture of the babies and their adopted mom