Poultry Hollow - Brush Creek, TN

[oldchickenlady]

Has anyone bought chicks from Poultry Hollow in Brush Creek, TN? I was wanting to add some SLW to my little flock of 6 BO and 6 RIR's. I thought I would have to wait till next year but found an ad from this place on Craigslist. The SLW's he has are 5 weeks old. The ones I have are 8 weeks old. I know I will have to keep them separate for a while. I was just wondering if anyone on here had bought from this place and if the quality of his birds were good. I am going to go see them tomorrow. Thanks for any info.

 

[rocky41102]

Perfect timing! Thanks for the update. I was just thinking about heading out there for some older chickens....Poor little chicks.

 

[RoosterGeek]

fleur_d'lis :

OK, folks. I went to Poultry Hollow and was shocked at the condition of his birds, the smell, the piles of dead birds, the feather losses, the lack of working waterers, and the overall condition. I questioned him and he said his "workers" hadn't been there yet and kept saying he was NPIP certified. Clearly the dead birds had been accumulating for more than a day and biosecurity was not enforced. NPIP, if not the humane society, needs to revisit this place. I am not a gentrified city girl, by the way, and am used to barnyard smells and litter, but this was beyond the pale. Sorry.

I call bull on the "piles of dead birds." I have been to Poultry hollow numerous times and not once have I witnessed this. I have seen dead birds, but only when they were being taken care of.

What specifically, concerning the condition of Poultry Hollow's birds, are you referring to? They looked happy and healthy to me!

The feather loss is from molting. I showed up last month to buy poultry drinker cups and some guineas and saw bare backs and thought, "This heat is affecting his birds too." My hens have molted from the stress of the heat at that time. Look up molting in the forums. It isn't pretty and all birds go through it some time or another.

fleur_d'lis, how many birds do you have at your home? I'm sure your coop smells like roses. Imagine having the volume that Poultry Hollow has. It's not going to smell like roses, more earthy than anything else. I haven't encountered any obnoxious odors.

I've gotten guineas, ducks, and chickens from them and all have been very hardy. Heck, one of my silkies managed to fend off predation (on my land) and obtained an injured leg in the process. That silkie hopped around on one leg like nothing had happened. He continued that until we processed him.

Perhaps the most attractive quality of Poultry Hollow is that openness they have on everything. When you go there, they don't make an effort to "gentrifiy" the place. What you see is what you get.

Is his farm gorgeous and immaculate? Nope, but it is functional and produces hardy birds that keeps me coming back. I don't raise birds to show, I raise them for their utility (meat and eggs).

I'll go a step further. When I don't process my own birds, I get them done at S and S Enterprises outside of Bowling Green, KY. I have seen Poultry Hollow's meat birds before, during, and after processing and they looked great.

It is sad that folks don't investigate for themselves. This thread is no better than grade school gossip. While some gossip may have merit, very little of it does. As he said, take a trip to the Hollow and make a decision for yourself.​

 

[halo]

How funny you join just to make 3 different posts supporting Poultry Hollow, dredging up old posts. Business must be slow at Poultry Hollow.

 

[stefan333]

How funny you join just to make 6,013 posts in 5 years talking about chickens.

-Seriously, think about that for a second.

It boggles my mind at how someone who spends so much time talking about chickens on the internet can critisize me or Poultry Hollow. I came on here to find out more about chickens and happened upon the posts about Poultry Hollow. I found people like you who are stuck up chicken obsessors. It's weird!!! I cannot stress enough how it's just psychologically strange to eat, sleep, and dream chickens and act like you're so special cause you are an honorary "flock master". It's almost like the high school hierarchy has now invaded the chicken internet. You go right ahead and critisize me for not having proper backyard chicken posting etiquette, because frankly, in the "real" world that's a compliment. You do still remember the "real" world don't you?

 

[stefan333]

I'm just curious if you have read the other posts about Poultry Hollow? I do suggest you read them. You might not agree with what I have written in any of the posts, and that is fine, but at the same time "How funny you join just to make 3 different posts supporting Poultry Hollow, dredging up old posts. Business must be slow at Poultry Hollow." was insulting to me. Who is Halo? Was I talking about her? Why did she feel the need to get involved? Am I not allowed to have my own opinion? I have found a lot of wonderful information and good people within these boards, but at the same time I have seen a lot of bashing and almost like a superiority complex among the more experienced flock owners. When I (and I've seen others) get upset and speak out then I (and others) are the ones labeled as disrespectful. Poultry Hollow is trying to run a legitimate business, and if someone doesn't like the way they operate their business, that is fine with me. Difference of opinion I can handle, but when people get so rude as to insult her neighbors for having "crappy" houses (when they didn't) then that goes way too far. I have noticed that everyone has a different opinion on how to raise chickens, but what I don't understand is how many (not all) who believe in strict biosecurity, show standards, and have other high expectations for their chickens seem to attack those of us who believe in traditional farming methods. It is apparently assumed that everyone on these pages are "hobbyists". Am I maybe on the wrong website? There is a difference between the owner who wants a pet verses the one who's going to kill it for food. What I have found on here are mostly pet owners. I still stand by my assessment that many (not all) people on here are very stuck up urban chicken owners who devote way too much time obsessing over their pets. I live in rural KY, and those of us around here pretty much eat our chickens, so we don't spend too much time on the internet talking about our food.

 

[SilkieTime]

 

[oldchickenlady]

Well, I told DH I found a place to get some SLW and his reply was "We don't need anymore chickens." He is right, but...

they're so pretty! I really wanted some!

I may go look at his place anyway and see how he is set up and how his birds look. Then if anyone else is interested and wants to know, I could give a first hand informed opinion. Maybe I shouldn't press my luck...I have had such good success with the 12 I have. I really thought by now I would have lost some but I haven't. I would have to make a separate pen etc and I don't have enough wire to do that, soooo...I guess I wont get anymore birds

 

[qeqivah]

please let us know how your visit went.

 

[rocky41102]

Did you ever make it there to check it out? It's not too far from me but I can't find any reviews or much info on their farm...Thanks!