Frustration With My Local Feed Stores

[chickenwhisperer]

OP-

in or around Sac, the best feed store is Bradshaw out in south area at Bradshaw and Florin.
My favorite is Western Feed off Fair Oaks Blvd in Carmichael, cause its close to me.
If you have the time, in Auburn there is Echo Valley which is big and good.
Theres a good sized feed store in Rio Linda, but I never been . . . its right off Antelope Rd.

I have used meatbird in place of raiser, the protein level are close and really the only difference.
I feed every kind of bird I have the Gamebird these days, I like the high protein diet for them.

 

[PineappleMama]

Went to the feed store this past week...

In the Fancy Goldfish tank there were 10 or so just being blown to heck and back by the current, tried to tell them that two of that number were dead... they argued themselves blue... until I pointed out that those two's eyes were totally filmed over and they weren't breathing like the others... for the fourth time...

Then in the Slider tank... there was one dead in the center... do I need to draw X's on its eyes or what? Side note: I could have SWORN that there was a law saying you can't sell any turtle that is less than 4" in diameter... these were the ubersmall ones, blatantly less than 4"... anyone know if I'm remembering that right or am I off? I didn't say anything on that point because I wasn't sure.

Point three.. in the reptile area... there was a baby rat (I think rat) totally blind still, stumbling around in the Leopard Gecko tank... told them about it and the goob says "Oh yeah, that's been in there since yesterday"... well of course a LG isn't going to eat a mammal that's too big to even fit in its mouth... they eat crickets and mealworms... "Ohhh yeaahhhh that IS what we feed him"

Took the baby rat out of there and put it in with the boa, didn't last long. That's a lot kinder than letting the poor thing starve/dehydrate to death... which clearly takes more than a full day.... actually, two of the tanks weren't even labelled... workers had NO clue what snakes were in those tanks... so how the heck are they supposed to tell you how to properly house/feed it? *growl*

Last but not least... I went looking for oyster shell. My girls don't need it yet, but they will, and since I was there getting some straw (they're 16wks tomorrow so here's hoping straw helps them get into the nesting spirit) I figured why not? Guy had NO clue what that was... he asks the other guy "Do we have any oysters?" *psst crushed oyster shell* "Do we have any oyster shells?" *eyeroll* and he says look in the chicken area... so we trot back to the chicken area and he grabs the bad I just told him was GRIT, not oyster, and says "Here it is" Seriously, JUST TOLD YOU... that is a bag of rocks... aid in digestion... what I'm looking for is a bag of crushed oyster shells to provide calcium for egg shells.

This was all in ONE trip... with four employees total involved between the asking, verifying, asking someone else... So... NO, I don't listen to a word those goobs say...

 

[SkyWarrior]

Just to confuse matters:

I have my 13 to 18 week old chickens on developer feed. (It's after chick and grower but before layer feed).

Flock raiser is the same stuff as meat bird feed. Same protein and carbs -- I know, I'm feeding it to my turkeys and geese. Higher protein. I don't know if it'll rush your chickens into maturity sooner.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The reason that meat birds are more sluggish isn't because of their feed, it's because of their genetics. They are bred to grow as fast as possible and many have heart or leg problems. Even if allowed to live, instead of being butchered, they do not have very long life spans, compared to a normal chicken. I suspect that your first thought was correct, that your chickens were less active because of the heat.

Meat builder is not that different from some of the other feeds you are looking for, unless they are putting something unusual in it. I wouldn't worry about the protein being too high for their age, when they are eating grass and scratch every day. Those foods are already diluting the percentage of protein in their diet.

Try not to worry. Chickens can eat a lot of different foods and still grow up just fine. I do think it's good not to give them too much calcium when they aren't laying, but other than that, they're pretty flexible. You might want to look at some of the other threads on the forum about helping your chickens deal with the heat, if you have extreme temperatures where you are.

 

[big medicine]

Going into a feedstore that does not carry Purina and asking for flock raiser would be like going into a Ford dealership and asking to see a Camero (a Chevy product), I imagine they would bring out their closest equivalent, probably a Mustang.

Even good feed stores hire new people that sometimes require a little time on the job to get up to speed. As in most things there is a learning curve, such as judging the age of pullets when buying them, with time comes experience.

 

[Schultz]

Even with experience they are still for the most part GOOFS in my area. I can't stand Tractor Supply because they seem to always be changing what they carry and they never seem to know ANYTHING. I stopped asking those dummys anything long ago.

 

[HHandbasket]

Thank you again, everyone!

The feed store that I had the issue with was the midtown Western Feed over on 34th Street. They don't have chicken feed in bags, just in bulk. You tell them how much you want, they go out back, weigh it and bag it up and bring it out. Maybe they sold me the right thing and I'm just being a pain in the neck. But I get conflicting information every single time I go to Western Feed, so I am staying out of there.

Florin & Bradshaw would be good beause I'm in south Sacramento. I didn't know there was a feed store out there! I'll look them up today and check them out. Beats the heck out of driving all the way out to the feed store off Elkhorn in Rio Linda. They are AWESOME out there , as I discovered this past weekend, and they gave me similar advice to what I have received here on BYC. And to boot, they sell Purina feeds! But I'm going to check out the place on Florin & Bradshaw because that would be so much closer for us.

Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
Thats surprising about the Western Feed, the here by me has everything in bags and only a small bulk area . . .
And mine has purina in bags.

Bradshaw feed is the best, you wont be dissapointed.
Its on the south/east corner of the intersection, cant miss it.

And you are right, the other place is on Elkhorn, not Antelope . . .

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Manna Pro also has Triple Duty, which is esssentially a flock raiser type feed. Isn't medicated, doesn't provide extra calcium and is lower in protein (very helpful for waterfowl).

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Don;t know about your stores, but here you tell them what they want and they get it from the storage area--most of the time it isn't there to look at...I do ask for specific brands and what they have in stock, but most feed stores haven't got a clue about chickens. The one I go to now does, but most of the other ones I've been to in town know next to nothing.

And yes, grower or starter grower is the correct feed. Broiler feed is NOT the same as flock raiser, although there are some similarities.

Both our local feed stores have area's with all the feed in the main part of the store on shelves and one also has a warehouse beside it but they don't mind you going back there and asking to look at stuff. I must be lucky in that they keep all the feed in an air conditioned and very clean area so that you also have no bug or mold problems with the feed.

Well, I always follow them into the storage areas, and yes, they are clean, but not air conditioned. My favoured store has feed stored right along hte drive thru (yes, it is a drive thru feed store!) so I can easily see what they have, or ead labels if I want. But most do not have that much accessibility.