I used to ignore any post mentioning
TSC or
Tractor Supply because I'm an ignorant former Monterey County, California elitist. I may have moved to Sacramento, but a
TRACTOR SUPPLY store? Nah. Feed stores, sure. I figured the semi-trucks with
TSC plastered all over them were driving THROUGH Sacramento to someplace really, really, rural.
Y'all may slap me now. There's a
TSC in Dixon, about 20 miles away from here, and I have been to it twice now. I was able to purchase a horse stall mat for the new coop I'm building. I was able to compare feed brand labels to those I puchase at Bradshaw Feed (my favorite feed store here) and think about any changes I may need to make. I don't intend to buy any chicks there, ever, because I wasn't impressed with the store employees' understanding. But hey, they sell all kinda stuff there; chicks and feed are just a small part of the company's business.
And I am incredibly happy living where one could almost say it was rural. My land-lady owns an acre, she lives in the front house and I live in the back house. She keeps 3 sheep as pets, and let me move in with my four cats and two small dogs. Then she let me build two goldfish ponds. Then raised garden beds. And THEN, keep chickens and now I'm building larger coop for 'em.
Anyway,
TSC has some great stuff. The feed is slightly cheaper than what I've been buying, but it's not the same brand(s). I don't know which is better, frankly.
But my first coop cost about $150.00 to build (counting the circular saw and cordless power drill I bought). My second coop was a kit from
eBay and I don't want to admit how much I paid for it (but the shipping was free), and I just spent about $300.00 for the materials for the coop I'm now building.
The experience, and learning to use power tools, plus the wonderful, adorable, entertaining, egg-laying chickens I have raised MYSELF from chicks - all this is priceless, indeed.