Birds at TSC- are they really pullets?

[JoeInPA]

Hi all, I'm looking to get some more pullets to replace my four roosters. TSC has 3 barred rock pullets and a bunch of americauna pullets. I just want to be sure they are indeed pullets before I make any puchase. I photographed the two bins. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[cstephens1987]

Hi all, I'm looking to get some more pullets to replace my four roosters. TSC has 3 barred rock pullets and a bunch of americauna pullets. I just want to be sure they are indeed pullets before I make any puchase. I photographed the two bins. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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1. TSC is notoriously bad at misidentification of both breed and gender. Usually attributed to the hatchery but not always as they're known to switch up bins incorrectly etc and most employees have no clue.
2. There is no such thing as Americauna. They're mislabeled Easter Eggers.

 

[JoeInPA]

So should I just completely avoid them altogether?

 

[cstephens1987]

So should I just completely avoid them altogether?

Up to you. I mean there are ways to try and sex barred rocks and if you're lucky 9/10 pullets should be just that. It seems though people get more like 50-70% pullets from what I hear

 

[JoeInPA]

Well there were only the 3 barred rocks left. If I got two more roosters id be really upset and irritated. I already have to re-home 4 roosters. I'll see if I can check out another supplier. Thanks for the fast response.

 

[townchicks]

From what I hear, you have no guarantee that you will not get one or more males from "sexed" chicks. Even if TSC doesn't mix them up, sexing day old chicks is an art, not a science. There is always a margin of error. If you buy chicks, be prepared for that, and have a plan for the cockerels.Or, you can go with a sex linked breed, or like I do, find somewhere that sells started pullets.

 

[Gray Farms]

Its a crap shoot. I bought 25 Barred Rock pullets this year from Orschelns. They were 100% pullets.

I haven't bought chick there for years but I couldn't pass them up. They were like 3 weeks old and $1 each.

 

[SharW75]

We must have a good group of TSCs around where I live. Between my mom and us, we've bought a whole bunch of pullets (probably 50+) of various breeds from a couple of different stores. Every single one was just what they said it was breed-wise, and only one, an EE, turned out to be a roo.

 

[cstephens1987]

Your best bet is to either buy sex linked birds, or to find a breeder with a good exchange policy for sexed birds. I did the latter personally as I find the birds to be from better stock and I like having a local person on call that knows my breeds

 

[janiedoe]

I bought 12 pullets at TSC last year. All of them were indeed pullets, even the Easter Eggers. The breeds weren't all accurate but I didn't care. They are all good layers.