Please sign this petition against TSCs new brooders

[Ninjasquirrel]

Actually, it is a provable statement. The problem is this entire thread is based on emotion and not facts.

"Make sure the coop has enough insulation to maintain a warm, even temperature from day to night, and provide a thick layer of large, clean shavings to insulate the floor. Baby chicks thrive best in temperatures of 90-95 degrees at the floor level. A heat lamp helps maintain a warmer brooder and lets you see if you are maintaining the right temperature. When chicks huddle close to each other and the heat lamp, they are likely too cold. If they’re staying around the edges and far from the heat lamp, it’s probably too hot for their comfort. "

Their own website.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/out-here_articles_chickens_chicks-to-8-weeks

While I do not have the scientific research into their current mortality rate I do have the fact that the floor in those brooders is not insulated. You can say this is "just based on emotions" but you are not providing me with any science showing that the brooders are in fact working.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

This petition would of probably got more support it you had just posted the link and walked away.

I know right?!

 

[cmom]

I asked at my store about any issues with the chicks and if they have had any excess die off of the chicks. They said they haven't.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I asked at my store about any issues with the chicks and if they have had any excess die off of the chicks. They said they haven't.

That's not a surprising answer.
If they had and told people it may effect their sells.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I saw these at TSC the other day and did feel the heating plates needed to be much lower. The chicks should be able to *just* touch the brooder plate when standing, but they weren't that close to it at all. Just as I've observed at Southern States and Rural King, many chicks had pasty butt. I would say at the same rate that the other stores have. However, I was at TSC around noon, and had to go back around 8pm that night, and they had already sold out of nearly all of the chicks they had in stock earlier. By nearly all, I mean 3-4 breeds were removed entirely, several only had a few left, and 3-4 new breeds had already been added. I was unhappy at the pasty butt, but it seems they move through inventory so quickly that most chicks are purchased and their lives are in someone else's hands.

Thankfully, I've never seen a dead chick in any bins at any store I've ever visited.

 

[cmom]

That's not a surprising answer.
If they had and told people it may effect their sells.

I go in their quite regularly and we have a farm swap there twice a month, which I started in 2009. We had the farm swap at our farm prior. I have seen pictures where in some stores I think the brooders are overloaded which I saw was not the case at my TSC. You are correct they could say anything but hatcheries use the same type of brooders. I have been in some stores where clearly the chicks are not as well kept.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I've myself used the old school metal type that GQF used to sell a few decades ago. I'm familiar with the set up and have been looking close at the differences in the new plastic types.

 

[cmom]

I worked in management at Walmart. I retired from there 12 years ago. I had to deal with customers. There were all kinds including shoplifters. In the beginning we did sell fish but that was eventually stopped. We did have to keep track of any dead fish. I know it's not chicks but we still had to care for them, clean tanks, feed, etc and deal with the public. There were all kinds of people. Some people would bring dead fish back. I saw almost everything that could happen. I hadn't planned on making a career at Walmart it just turned out that way. I started as a cashier and worked my way up into management. I realize it wasn't a pet store but I still had to deal with all kinds of people. Where our TSC is now was where our original Walmart was before we built a new store next door and TSC took over the old store.

 

[spartacus_63]

While I do not have the scientific research into their current mortality rate I do have the fact that the floor in those brooders is not insulated. You can say this is "just based on emotions" but you are not providing me with any science showing that the brooders are in fact working.

It is the job of the OP to "prove" the subject. You said it yourself, you do not have proof. Until you have proof, there is no need for anyone else to provide you with anything other than opinion either supporting or opposing your opinion. None of that changes that point that the statement I referenced is provable.
Someone gathers empirical evidence about a touchy feely subject and augments it with potentially misleading video (that really only shows normal chick behavior) banking on the chance that the touchy feely video will evoke strong reaction. This is a tried & true method for activists without much in the way of fact and or experience in the subject they are upset about.
Your response is also an opinion. There simply is no evidence that an insulated floor makes chicks more "comfortable" or that it improves their survivability. Chicks huddle and disperse for a multitude of reasons and the video clip is a snapshot in time. We certainly do not know what the chicks were doing immediately prior to or after this, artfully edited, video. It is possible that the conditions changed or that the reason for the chick behavior was caused by an unknown condition. For this video to be compelling, many factors must be accepted as true without supporting evidence. That is the epitome of an emotional response.
As far I I know the OP may be in direct competition with the corporate farm store and this may be a way to steer business to their own ventures. There simply is a lack of evidence to support any action outside of personal patronage.
I am not a fan of cancel culture. It's not my job to tell TSC how to brood their chicks. I certainly would not listen to TSC if they told me I needed to change my practices simply because they found them to be not to their liking. If I were to go to any seller and I found their practices unacceptable, I simply would go elsewhere regardless what others may tell me is the best course of action.

 

[cmom]

I've myself used the old school metal type that GQF used to sell a few decades ago. I'm familiar with the set up and have been looking close at the differences in the new plastic types.

Same here. My original GQF was the one with the wafer thermostat that I converted over to electronic. I had two but sold one and put the plexiglass door on this one.