Please sign this petition against TSCs new brooders

[wolfwalker]

Every person who has documented their trip to TSC thus far has reported pasty butt in one or more of the chickens. Wouldn't you agree thats a problem? I think @CHlCKEN is correct in saying there is excessive pasty butt in the chicks. This is a chain farm store. They will of COURSE say their chickens are their #1 priority. So does EVERY other shady business out there.

Blaming it on the new brooders is misleading and false. pasty but happened just as much in stock tanks as with the new brooders. The difference, it could easily be seen by the public easier. Remember TSC stores are busy, so they never had and never will have a dedicated employee who spends all their time with the chicks and does nothing else.

I'll say it again and keep saying it, the new brooders at those stores are not new, they have been in use almost a hundred years and are proven. The issue is training.

And lets be honest with ourselves here, Pasty butt happens, you can go out and clean pasty butt and an hour later find one you missed, thinking you had gotten them all and the problem was fixed. And this is with people who have no other jobs to do than take care of their chicks, no customers to wait on, no customers calling you over here for help, to the point while you meant to go back and check on the chicks, you find out when you do two hours have past. I have never worked for TSC, but I have owned 6 jewelry and gift stores so I know what retail life is like and how hectic it can get and how time seems to fly.

New brooders / old brooders problems will always pop up with the chicks that the public sees, one just allows it to shine so to speak. Don't like it, then one has to ask are you willing to pay 15$ for a chick, because to have a dedicated employee who does nothing else, that is what will be required. Instead of painting new equipment or all stores with a wide brush, shame the individual stores. Don't blame equipment and equate well these stores have issues so all stores have issues, so new equals bad and it has to go.

This is becoming a rant so I need to stop.

 

[wolfwalker]

Every person who has documented their trip to TSC thus far has reported pasty butt in one or more of the chickens. Wouldn't you agree thats a problem? I think @CHlCKEN is correct in saying there is excessive pasty butt in the chicks. This is a chain farm store. They will of COURSE say their chickens are their #1 priority. So does EVERY other shady business out there.

REally. I don't think so. I was in our local TSC 2 weeks ago and out of 300 birds, new order the day before, I saw 1 pasty butt. Hell, I can go out to my brooders with my 500 chicks and find 1 pasty butt that wasn't there yesterday. So does that mean I need to be condemned as a bad person, that I don't care.

I use battery style brooders. I built them myself, so the difference between teh commercial ones and mine is mine are 16 inches high in each level. That still doesn't mean that when I wash pasty butts I might not miss one just because of the chicks bouncing around the place or one hiding under the heat plates

 

[JacinLarkwell]

REally. I don't think so. I was in our local TSC 2 weeks ago and out of 300 birds, new order the day before, I saw 1 pasty butt. Hell, I can go out to my brooders with my 500 chicks and find 1 pasty butt that wasn't there yesterday. So does that mean I need to be condemned as a bad person, that I don't care.

I use battery style brooders. I built them myself, so the difference between teh commercial ones and mine is mine are 16 inches high in each level. That still doesn't mean that when I wash pasty butts I might not miss one just because of the chicks bouncing around the place or one hiding under the heat plates

I agree. Heck, if the people complaining about the pasty butt had seen my chicks when they were young, they would have thought I was neglecting them too. That's not the case. Sometimes a chick hides and you don't see it until you check on them again. Sometimes something else happens and you have to stop what you're doing and come back after that other issue is solved. TSC IS NOT the only place that has pasty butt problems, but it's a neck of a lot harder to see it looking down in a crowded trough than looking strait at the bird at eye level

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I just signed. I hope they switch back, the new brooders have no bedding, and the chicks look so uncomfortable, thank you for sharing this!

These are the reasons that I wanted them to switch back. I will be going to my local TSC soon, and I will see if they changed out the brooders in my area.

 

[Ascholten]

Chicken little LOVES an audience.
Is it TRULY the brooder that is the real problem or lack of training? Or lack of giving a rat's butt as is so prevalent in kids nowadays?

If the problem is the training, which it seems is the REAL issue, then putting them back into horse tubs with heat lamps is NOT really going to solve the problem, it's still there just looks a little better. Before we circle the wagons and call the cancel culture cockroaches, let's make sure there IS a problem, and more importantly, WHAT the problem really is, AND that we have TOLD and tried to TRAIN the people how to fix it first AND given them honest time TO actually fix it, before trying to stomp on them and burn their store down.

Mindless, frothing at the mouth, 'feel good' petitions, rally's etc, are pretty useless. They will just neglect the chicks in the new-/old setup they swap back to because nobody cared to genuinely address the REAL problem, not just the sensational one that attracts the most people to the cause.

Not trying to shut down any legitimate concerns, but if we are going to do this, lets be professional and do it CORRECTLY.

AND, finally, since I mentioned it before, taking pictures, and doing it right, I am trying to practice what I preach here. This is a picture of the chicks setup at the Tractor Supply in Jacksonville FLorida off the New Kings Road exit.

Again, I am NOT an expert at ANYTHING here so can easily miss something, but well, here we go. It's a start.

Thank you for your time.
Aaron

 

[theoldchick]

I just signed. I hope they switch back, the new brooders have no bedding, and the chicks look so uncomfortable, thank you for sharing this!

Though the new brooders have no bedding, it is actually healthier for them. Even though the flooring in the new brooders are rather stark in appearance, they do have a rubber coating that is more comfortable than regular hardware cloth. And the chicks are so light they are not injured by the wire. Remember, bedding, if not cleaned properly (and they never are at TSC-I've seen some really nasty bins) it is a bacteria/fungi factory that can cause respiratory issues for chicks. How many times have you walked in a TSC to look at the chicks in the bin and smelled that sour smell? Imagine what the odor is like to the chick sitting on the wet, poop infested pine shavings? And, yes, the new brooders will stink if not cleaned like they are supposed to be.

I think the new brooders would have more customer appeal if a stuffed animal were put inside for the chicks to cuddle up to. But that, too, would have to be cleaned on a regular basis because no matter what the chicks are put in it will have to be cleaned. Last week, I went in a TSC, I don't remember where, I was on vacation-somewhere in SC-and let me tell you that brooder was clean, the chicks were active but a few were napping, and people were buying them like crazy. The 'Chick Captain' was answering everybody's questions about the new brooder. She did a good job and the customers were happy. They were buying chicks and all kind of chick related supplies. I bet that store made a good profit that day!

 

[Isadora]

I would have thought with the new brooders that the issue of the chicks being too cold is far greater than many of the chicks having pasty butt. Like other posters have pointed out, many of their chicks get pasty butt... It's obviously something thar needs to be taken care of but it happens to everybody. Chicks being too cold on the other hand, sounds like a training issue or issue with the heat plate height.

 

[Ascholten]

So how do you cure pasty butt? Also how to properly clean it if they do have it?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So how do you cure pasty butt? Also how to properly clean it if they do have it?

You take a damp cloth or paper towel and wipe it until it comes off

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^ that, using very warm water. Helps loosen things a little faster, the chicks don't complain (as much). They still complain.