I'm mad and sad, and disappointed in myself and just want to write it down. DH and I ran by Tractor Supply today to pick up some crumbles and wire. I've avoided them this spring because I didn't want to temp myself with any chicks. I haven't seen a tiny fuzzy butt in forever, so stopped by to drool a little. Well, I wasn't drooling. The LF tanks were STUFFED full of chicks basically walking over top of one another, many with angry bare red areas on their bodies from pecking. And in the bantam tank, so many cute tiny little things had such severe pasty butt that I suspect they'll lose many over the next two days. One was laying there dead already. At first I thought (hoped) that maybe it was just doing the famous "sleep like the dead" chick nap, but I could see no chest movement and noticed its eyes were half open. And for some reason a few HUGE chicks were stuck in there with the bantams (most of which appeared to be beautiful little cochins). A group looking at LF chicks had been standing there a LONG time, and I'd heard them call for someone at the chick area 2x, so I assume they were short handed today. Nobody seemed to want to work the chick area. When a boy finally showed up, DH quietly pointed out the dead chick to him (which was removed when I checked back later). DH dragged me away because I was openly complaining about the terrible pasty butt conditions. This was not something that had occurred in a few hours, because some of these chicks had HUGE clumps stuck back there, which takes a lot of time to build up. I wanted to take at least some of them home, but bantams are only sold straight run, and what the heck was I going to do if I ended up with a bunch of little cockerels!?! I should have asked to speak to the manager, so why didn't I??? I'm so mad at myself!! And I'm ticked at TS. I know to many they're basically "just chickens." But they're living creatures! And surely you would sell more if their area wasn't overly crowded and the "product" looked clean and healthy????!!!
My TSC was the same.....I've looked at different times, but never made a purchase. Sometimes the tanks were very overcrowded with chicks, and sometimes not. And then they were dirty sometimes. Overhearing some employees talk, they DO NOT like chick days, and can't wait for them to be over. Last year, a store called AGLAND had chicks that were way to cold. I noticed some tiny silkie chicks had pasty butts. I almost bought them, but no. I'm raising my own breeds now. I really had a hard time resisting though.
Of course you were angry! They are living creatures, and they don't deserve to be treated that way! Good for you, calling attention to someone there. Maybe T.S. shouldn't be selling chicks if they can't care for them properly.
I would call the store and ask for their corporate office number for their area.. call them and let them know what you saw...
