Hello all!
I am so happy a resource like this exists, how helpful!
My fiancée and I recently decided we would like to have our own backyard chickens (now that we live on just over an acre) and we decided we would like to start off with chicks in hopes they would be more personable for the long run. We decided we would like to recycle wooden pallets and use them to build our own coop, so after we obtained several pallets we went to tractor supply to look for our chicks.
I really like Tractor Supply in general, but our experience purchasing chicks there did not go well at all. While we were there picking up our 4 new Rhode Island reds I noticed a duckling that's leg was sticking out at a very odd angle and its skin was visible, all red and inflamed. We inquired as to what was wrong with it and the employees said they had noticed it having lots of trouble getting around. I asked what they were going to do with it and they said nothing, that they previously had it in with some of the smaller chickens but had to move it back in with the other ducks. They told us the duck would stay there like that and let nature run its course unless someone purchased it. We told them I was a vet tech and would like to seek veterinary care for the bird, at my own expense if they would let me. They wouldn't just give me the bird, they told me I had to purchase it. Then we were informed we could not just purchase one duck, but were required to purchase two. That is when one employee said "Give them the one with the messed up back," and they pointed out another duckling with similar problems.
We agreed to take them both, annoyed that I had to purchase them each for $1, but I certainly couldn't leave them there. I took them into work and had them evaluated by 2 of our avian vets who put them on antibiotics and gave me instructions to rehab them and hopefully straighten out their crooked legs. This involves swimming them several times a day and a regimen passive motion therapy.
I am furious with Tractor Supply. Not necessarily with the employees that were working that day, but with the corporations policies on seeking veterinary care. The employees seemed kind and I think if they felt veterinary care was an option, they would have done something for the ducks because they actually noticed something was not quite right.
So it's safe to say we got more than we bargained for! Our coop will have to be considerably larger so that the ducks can stretch their wings out in it when they are fully grown, should we successfully rehab them. And I must admit, I didn't know a whole lot about daily duck care until a few days ago when I gave myself a crash course in it reading everything I could find online. But.... Here we go!
(We named our ducklings Penn and Teller)
I am so happy a resource like this exists, how helpful!
My fiancée and I recently decided we would like to have our own backyard chickens (now that we live on just over an acre) and we decided we would like to start off with chicks in hopes they would be more personable for the long run. We decided we would like to recycle wooden pallets and use them to build our own coop, so after we obtained several pallets we went to tractor supply to look for our chicks.
I really like Tractor Supply in general, but our experience purchasing chicks there did not go well at all. While we were there picking up our 4 new Rhode Island reds I noticed a duckling that's leg was sticking out at a very odd angle and its skin was visible, all red and inflamed. We inquired as to what was wrong with it and the employees said they had noticed it having lots of trouble getting around. I asked what they were going to do with it and they said nothing, that they previously had it in with some of the smaller chickens but had to move it back in with the other ducks. They told us the duck would stay there like that and let nature run its course unless someone purchased it. We told them I was a vet tech and would like to seek veterinary care for the bird, at my own expense if they would let me. They wouldn't just give me the bird, they told me I had to purchase it. Then we were informed we could not just purchase one duck, but were required to purchase two. That is when one employee said "Give them the one with the messed up back," and they pointed out another duckling with similar problems.
We agreed to take them both, annoyed that I had to purchase them each for $1, but I certainly couldn't leave them there. I took them into work and had them evaluated by 2 of our avian vets who put them on antibiotics and gave me instructions to rehab them and hopefully straighten out their crooked legs. This involves swimming them several times a day and a regimen passive motion therapy.
I am furious with Tractor Supply. Not necessarily with the employees that were working that day, but with the corporations policies on seeking veterinary care. The employees seemed kind and I think if they felt veterinary care was an option, they would have done something for the ducks because they actually noticed something was not quite right.
So it's safe to say we got more than we bargained for! Our coop will have to be considerably larger so that the ducks can stretch their wings out in it when they are fully grown, should we successfully rehab them. And I must admit, I didn't know a whole lot about daily duck care until a few days ago when I gave myself a crash course in it reading everything I could find online. But.... Here we go!
(We named our ducklings Penn and Teller)
