So, I walk in Tractor Supply Company and....

[imamamato3]

At the tractor supply by me (when they have chicks) this is how it works.

When they clean the bedding out of the galvanized tubs they keep the chicks in, they just dump one tub into another, change the bedding then do the best they can to sort them out... i WATCHED this with my own eyes.

I would never buy chicks from them after seeing that...

 

[DaveMorey]

Well, that would explain how I ended up with Red Stars and RIR. I guess it could be fun if you don't really care what you are getting.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

That is why I want to buy or take imperfects from the breeders on here and not from hatcheries or the stores hatcheries sell to.

I want hen hatched preferably or eggs from the hen I can slip under another. Or ones the breeders have hatched.

 

[Penny Hen]

Wow to hear some of your stories makes me appreciate my local TSC. The worst complaint I have is that the quit carrying the yellow sulfur salt blocks. For those of you that don't know the sulfur makes your four-footed livestock taste nasty to mosquitoes and they won't bite them. I found this out from an 80+ year old cattleman. I was having issues with one of my horses who were allergic to their bites and she was pebbled with scabs from her withers to her tail. I put one of these blocks out and she healed and never had issues with it again. Furthermore I quit having colds in my horses and sheep.

Now I know block salt is not the best for sheep and goats as it will wear their teeth down prematurely. But you can always take a hammer to it. I went 5 years without needing to buy antibiotics for someone being sick. That is because sulfur is the base component of Sulfa drugs. My theory is by supplying them with the base component their bodies can assemble their own sulfur based response to invaders before they get a foothold on their systems. It also makes the fleeces healthy since sulfur is a component of hair/wool. It even causes more dense follicle development in the babies of the pregnant mothers so the lambs are born with thicker wool.

I haven't been able to get any this year and the sheep have started having colds again.

 

[ArkieGirl72638]

Next spring I am going to make the day trip to the Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon Missouri. I have had the BEST luck with them. I always get exactly what I am suppose to be getting plus a couple of extra surprise chicks. It is a 5 hour round trip, but I know where my babies are...keeps the stress down and I love meeting the CH employees. Plus, there are always some different chicks available in the company store when I am there. That is how I ended up with a small flock of Blue Slate turkeys. Their prices on supplies, treats, feed, etc. can't be beat either. No, I am going to stick with what works. Employees that know what they are doing and quality chicks.

 

[NYREDS]

Next spring I am going to make the day trip to the Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon Missouri. I have had the BEST luck with them. I always get exactly what I am suppose to be getting plus a couple of extra surprise chicks. It is a 5 hour round trip, but I know where my babies are...keeps the stress down and I love meeting the CH employees. Plus, there are always some different chicks available in the company store when I am there. That is how I ended up with a small flock of Blue Slate turkeys. Their prices on supplies, treats, feed, etc. can't be beat either. No, I am going to stick with what works. Employees that know what they are doing and quality chicks.

Last year at one of tehsummer Fair shows I judge there was a Brown Red Old English Game large fowl pullet I kept going back to. I ended up making her Champion Large Fowl. This isn't a typical fair. The show is about 800 birds & there are 3 or 4 good breeders that show there every year. The owner of the Brown red came in just after judging was completed & I offered to buy the pullet. He sold her to me as he said he had 2 more at home. I asked him where he got her & he told me she came from Cackle Hatchery. I've seen their catalog & some of the Game pictures look pretty good. I called them & spoke to the flock manager. He told me which of the catalog pictures were actually of their Games & they were all thones I liked the looks of. I don't know about any of their other breeds but I wouldn't hesitate to buy their Games.

 

[ArkieGirl72638]

I got their Cackle Hatchery surprise box in July and I have never been more pleased or surprised by a shipment of chicks. The hatchery surprise is just random chicks they pick and ship from their extras after orders are met. You have no choice of what you get but you can't go wrong with the price...comes out to about $1.50 a chick, including shipping. I have gotten a chance to try out breeds I might not normally try...like some Naked Necks I got. I also got some beautiful Old English Game chicks and even a couple of Phoenix chicks. There little tail feathers just grow and grow...kind of like the little bird in the Dr. Suess story. Didn't think I would like the games but their spirit and spunk surprise me...I love to see my Bantam Game cock chase off my Giant Black Jersey roo if he gets too close to the Bantam girls...it is a David and Goliath story for sure. Makes me laugh out loud every single time. Can't go wrong with Cackle...

 

[Trefoil]

Wow to hear some of your stories makes me appreciate my local TSC. The worst complaint I have is that the quit carrying the yellow sulfur salt blocks. For those of you that don't know the sulfur makes your four-footed livestock taste nasty to mosquitoes and they won't bite them. I found this out from an 80+ year old cattleman. I was having issues with one of my horses who were allergic to their bites and she was pebbled with scabs from her withers to her tail. I put one of these blocks out and she healed and never had issues with it again. Furthermore I quit having colds in my horses and sheep.

Now I know block salt is not the best for sheep and goats as it will wear their teeth down prematurely. But you can always take a hammer to it. I went 5 years without needing to buy antibiotics for someone being sick. That is because sulfur is the base component of Sulfa drugs. My theory is by supplying them with the base component their bodies can assemble their own sulfur based response to invaders before they get a foothold on their systems. It also makes the fleeces healthy since sulfur is a component of hair/wool. It even causes more dense follicle development in the babies of the pregnant mothers so the lambs are born with thicker wool.

I haven't been able to get any this year and the sheep have started having colds again.

You can buy the sulfur by itself and add the appropriate amount to their feed or even mix it in with loose salt. I got some from ebay, but you probably could get it from a vet supply or maybe even TSC. How come they stopped offering the yellow salt blocks?

 

[Math]

I am sorry that you all have had such bad results with TSC. I have no particular allegiance to TSC, but my results with the local TSC was very good. I bought 20 pullet chicks from TSC on March 27th (10 were red pullets and 10 were black pullets). I also bought 6 pullet chicks from a local feed store. This gave me 26 chicks total. I figured that I would end up with some roosters to slaughter. It turned out that I have 26 pullets and no roosters. The red pullets turned out to be Isa Browns (or some type of red sex link) and the black pullets turned out to be Silver Laced Wyandottes. The six local feed store pullets turned out to be 3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Gold Sex Links? I got my first two eggs on July 2nd and by September 18th I was getting 24 eggs. (I keep records on a calendar). Since then I have been getting an average of 24 eggs daily with as many as 25 some days. My Isa Browns started laying first and they lay every day. My Silver Laced Wyandottes, or RIRs or Gold Sex Link take a day off every now and then. But I Average 24 eggs daily.

Back in March, I had asked the lady at TSC to save back for me 20 pullets when she get her last shipment in March. I did not know what breed I would get, I just said save for me 20 pullets of whatever she gets. My pullets were never mixed with whatever else they had. She saved for me 10 red pullets and 10 black pullets. She called me and I picked them up that day. All my chicks lived and all are healthy laying pullets.

Nowadays, My wife enjoys collecting the eggs daily. She enjoys baking every week and we have plenty eggs for neighbors, friends, family and co-workers. I will have to bring myself to slaughter some of these pullets because we are getting too many eggs!!!

 

[DaveMorey]

I am sorry that you all have had such bad results with TSC. I have no particular allegiance to TSC, but my results with the local TSC was very good. I bought 20 pullet chicks from TSC on March 27th (10 were red pullets and 10 were black pullets). I also bought 6 pullet chicks from a local feed store. This gave me 26 chicks total. I figured that I would end up with some roosters to slaughter. It turned out that I have 26 pullets and no roosters. The red pullets turned out to be Isa Browns (or some type of red sex link) and the black pullets turned out to be Silver Laced Wyandottes. The six local feed store pullets turned out to be 3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Gold Sex Links? I got my first two eggs on July 2nd and by September 18th I was getting 24 eggs. (I keep records on a calendar). Since then I have been getting an average of 24 eggs daily with as many as 25 some days. My Isa Browns started laying first and they lay every day. My Silver Laced Wyandottes, or RIRs or Gold Sex Link take a day off every now and then. But I Average 24 eggs daily.

Back in March, I had asked the lady at TSC to save back for me 20 pullets when she get her last shipment in March. I did not know what breed I would get, I just said save for me 20 pullets of whatever she gets. My pullets were never mixed with whatever else they had. She saved for me 10 red pullets and 10 black pullets. She called me and I picked them up that day. All my chicks lived and all are healthy laying pullets.

Nowadays, My wife enjoys collecting the eggs daily. She enjoys baking every week and we have plenty eggs for neighbors, friends, family and co-workers. I will have to bring myself to slaughter some of these pullets because we are getting too many eggs!!!

I am not disappointed with my TSC experience. I bought a total of 40 birds from them (20 red pullets and 20 pro red straight run). The PR's turned out to be the same as the red pullets except for the 13 roos which look more like RIR. I did not lose one chick during the brooding period and have only lost one hen to our dog. The remaining 26 hens have laid over 1900 eggs total since mid July when I started keeping laying records. They are egg machines! I guess it all depends on what you are going there for. If you want some heritage quality don't go to TSC, but if you don't mind the possibility of a little variety and a surprise they aren't bad at all.