Roo/pullet ratio from tsc?

[VigilanteFarms]

I had a friend ask me this and it got me wondering.

Do you think the hatcheries take advantage of the large quantities of chicks bought by feed stores like tractor supply to get rid of more cockerels? Seeing as there's a middle man (feed store) I would think it'd be easier to throw more cockerels into the group that's supposed to be straight run and them not get any flack for it.

Has anybody noticed if you wind up with a higher number of cockerels when buying straight run from a feed store than if you order directly from the hatchery?

Also, my friend works at TSC and she was wondering why they get so many with leg issues or ones that just fail to thrive. She assumed it was because of the shipping. I told her while I'd had some like that in my shipment of chicks I hadn't had enough that I thought it was an issue. She wondered if the hatcheries are maybe a little more selective as far as checking for leg or health issues for shipments that are small orders for individuals and just grab a bunch for the store orders, not paying any attention to if there are issues. Anybody have any thoughts on that?

 

[Rainwing]

I'd say its 50/50 chance. One year I got lucky with straight run buff orpingtons from TSC and got 5 hens, 1 rooster.
Another year I got 2 silkies and both were roos.
This time around I have 1 rooster of the 5 straight run chickens I bought from TSC and Runnings. Pretty good odds.
I also have 2 other roosters I got now but I don't count them with the straight run breeds because they were marked with green on their head with chicks. The entire tub was marked with green, usually roosters are marked green while there are some unmarked female chicks running about, so I thought they may have been marked for color and not gender. But no, they were all roosters.
One batch of chicks from TSC all had pneumonia arriving from the store. 1 died before I could administer the medicine in time. And in my current batch, one TSC isa brown had severe failure to thrive and did not grow at all in 10 days, ended up passing away. I guess that has to do with the injuries.

Feed store chicks are fun to raise, and good for egg production and utility, but if you want fancy breeds or a hen that is long-lived, your better off ordering directly from a reputable hatchery.