Speaking of TSC chicks, sell out this year too ?

[tigger19687]

So Last year, due to Covid, I heard that chicks sold out like hot cakes at the TSC and farm stores !
You think they will again this year?

Anyone sell chicks from their stock and sell out too ?

I wasn't planning on getting chicks just yet since I've not found my house to buy. But if it's going to be a wild west shoot out for the breed I want (australorp) I better think about maybe grabbing 6 now.

 

[slifeh]

Our TSC has had chicks for a few weeks now and they haven’t seemed to be selling very fast. At other farm stores they seem to be selling at a normal pace... could be just my location but that’s my experience. Got 4 batams from TSC a few days ago! They had a very good selection.

 

[NatJ]

I wasn't planning on getting chicks just yet since I've not found my house to buy. But if it's going to be a wild west shoot out for the breed I want (australorp) I better think about maybe grabbing 6 now.

Maybe place an order now from an online hatchery, and choose a delivery date in June or July (or whenever else you are likely to be ready.) Of course check the cancellation policy for the hatchery in case something comes up, but that way you could be pretty sure of getting your chicks when you want them.

I know Ideal Poultry and McMurray Hatchery let you choose when you want your chicks shipped, and I think most other hatcheries do too. And they are usually willing to schedule orders quite a few months into the future.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My TSCs don't have chicks in yet, so can't speak to how quickly they are selling out (last year, it wasn't even hours) - though by the end of the year, my local Ace Hardware was able to keep some birds in stock for several days. In neither case was there much in the way of selection. You got what they had, of whatever breed, or nothing at all. CornishX, Comets, EEs most represented, the rest were pretty rare. Oh, and Pekin ducks.

On the other hand, I can offer that the local sellers via Craigslist, etc seem to have good variety and have not yet raised prices, mutts are selling anywhere from $2-5, and no one is taking their adds down as if they'd sold out (this is, however, a problem I've seen on Craigslist - the ad remains up long after the product left the shelf) of take that with lots of salt.

My suspicion is that down here in the FL Panhandle, demand will be much less than last year, but may remain higher in areas which remain locked down - they were apparently a popular home school project in many areas?

 

[tigger19687]

I forgot to add that I went to 2 stores sunday and they were out of all but a few. The store I went to Friday had a bunch because they just got their shipment in.
Dodge grain in NH is out too

 

[Sally PB]

I know Ideal Poultry and McMurray Hatchery let you choose when you want your chicks shipped, and I think most other hatcheries do too.

I only want/need/have room for 3-4 chicks, maybe 5. So minimums are a concern for me. FYI, I just looked at Ideal, and they say:

"The minimum dollar value for an order is $30 in poultry, excluding male only chick orders.

There is no minimum number of chicks you can order as long as your total order of poultry is $30, not including shipping and handling.

If your order consists of a very small number of items (less than the equivalent of a quarter of a box[25]), there may be male chicks placed in the box for warmth or comfort during shipping. The breed of chicks included varies from order to order and unfortunately we are unable to identify the breed. You may purchase heat packs or extra straw if you do not want to have the males included with your order."

I wonder if you could order, say, 5 chicks and pay the $30, even if your chick price added up to $24....?

Murray McMurray says:

"Mix and match when ordering as few as 6 chicks for delivery between April 1 and October 31. Orders containing breeds which are ineligible for small orders must meet the regular minimum for the ship date selected. A small order fee of $35 will apply for orders of less than 15 chicks."

 

[Percheron chick]

I suspect that backyard flocks will still be a thing this year and that there will be a shortage of chicks at the feed stores. I would however put chicks on the back burner if you are in the process of moving. Just one more thing on your plate. You will be able to find chicks well into the fall. I have found growing out pullets over the winter is just as easy as spring chicks.

 

[tigger19687]

That is where you go in with someone local to make an order.
And to be honest you still are paying the same for each chick, when you count in shipping.

Anyone know if TSC has their chicks Vx for Mericks?
I've not found any info

 

[U_Stormcrow]

TSC does not pay to have their chicks vaccinated, by all reports.

I'll see if I can find links to sources.

Can't source. Best I can do is logical inference.

Here is TSC's "Chicken Chat" which makes only a single mention of vaccination (fowl pox), no mention of Marek's at all, and says "you should consider it, talk with your vet". Not "chicks sold by us are already vaccinated against X, Y, Z" as a selling point.

TSC is known to source from Hoover's. (may source from others besides, regionally, but Hoover's sourcing is certain). Hoover's 2021 catalog explicitly states (as has past catalogs) that they vaccinate their Breeders for a wide range of diseases (page 2, left column), but that they don't vaccinate chicks except upon request (again, page 2), and don't specifically recommend vaccination. Their own website doesn't list chicks as vaccinated by default (though if you buy their started pullets, that's part of the description - see for example).

Ergo, a reasonable assumption is "not vaccinated" for day old chicks obtained at TSC.

 

[NatJ]

I only want/need/have room for 3-4 chicks, maybe 5. So minimums are a concern for me.

Yes, that does make it more difficult.
Cackle, Meyer, and My Pet Chicken all have a minimum order of 3.

I wonder if you could order, say, 5 chicks and pay the $30, even if your chick price added up to $24....?

Good question about Ideal's minimum dollar amount. I don't know the answer, but you could ask them.

Or you could deliberately order chicks that are more expensive, so it reaches the right total.

Or you could find someone to split an order with you.

Also, their policy of adding extra chicks for warmth means you'd have to decide what to do with those, too. The one time they added extra males to an order of mine, they were a different color, so it was easy to tell which ones they were. I raised them for about 2 months and then butchered them, but it would have also been easy to just cull them the day they arrived.