Texas

[yinepu]

SO i stopped by TSC in Conroe last nite and they havent gotten their chicks or ducklings yet, but have the area set up for them! Asked one of the kids working that late shift and he said they would arrive sometime this week. I also asked if he knew where their supply of chicks was coming from and he told me "The Post Office"...they just pick em up from there!

but i will be stopping by frequently this week, keeping an eye on them...do TSC all get their stock from one place? or is it by location...i know ideal is just up the road, but after some of the posts i have seen on here im kinda leary about this batch of ideal's..

Well.. Welp said they supply TSC.. so when I called the Lampasas store I asked.. and the girl there verified Privett (who is basically our Welp hatchery distributor for most of their birds)...

 

[Cockle-Dood]

im gonna check them out, i havent eve heard of Welp, or Privett either for that matter.

 

[yinepu]

im gonna check them out, i havent eve heard of Welp, or Privett either for that matter.

I recently placed an order with Welp because of good reviews here on the health of their birds.. I'll know for sure once they arrive in May (yeah.. I ordered early)

 

[Kilsharion]

**cannot get more birds cannot get more birds cannotgetmorebirds** no....really....y'all are havoc to a girl's willpower, you know....Of course, never having been to a TSC, I can't say anything about them - except that, it's a good thing my TSC is a bit out of my way, or I'd probably find myself over there eyeballing the baby chicks when they came in.

It's bad enough that Georgetown Farm Supply had Silkie roos (~5 months old) the other day...gorgeous ones, too. **le sigh** Full house....full house...full house.....**mutters mantra and goes back to work**

 

[Kilsharion]

I recently placed an order with Welp because of good reviews here on the health of their birds.. I'll know for sure once they arrive in May (yeah.. I ordered early)

Is that the bantam order?

 

[yinepu]

**cannot get more birds cannot get more birds cannotgetmorebirds** no....really....y'all are havoc to a girl's willpower, you know....Of course, never having been to a TSC, I can't say anything about them - except that, it's a good thing my TSC is a bit out of my way, or I'd probably find myself over there eyeballing the baby chicks when they came in.

It's bad enough that Georgetown Farm Supply had Silkie roos (~5 months old) the other day...gorgeous ones, too. **le sigh** Full house....full house...full house.....**mutters mantra and goes back to work**

Lol.. I have to travel to Killeen or to Lampasas for the nearest TSC

Both are trips I only make maybe once in two or three months... but I will have to go more often when the weather warms back up and I start building more pens and coops

 

[KnobbyOaks]

I know there are some who don't like Ideal's stock. I myself have been quite happy with them. Granted I have very limited experience, this being only my second batch of chicks from them or from anywhere for that matter

. If your TSC gets them from Ideal and there are some that you are wanting I would say just go for it. Then you can form your own opinion of them. Just my 2 cents.

Here are my girls I got from them last summer (plus my little chickherd

.)





And here are a couple of my new bantam chicks I just got last week from them. Out of 26 plus 2 ducks I lost 6 chicks. Could have been worse considering they were "lost" in the mail for a whole extra day.

I love your girls and new chicks. I'm happy with Ideal, too. Now I'm wondering about your little dog mixed in with them. Has that ever been a problem? I have a Maltese who has watched the girls from the git-go but I've never let them be together-together. I was afraid the dog would chase the chickens since they're easily spooked. Many times I tie the dog in the golf cart so she can watch me working outside and the chickens are beginning to jump up in the golf cart too. How did you first try them together?

 

[yinepu]

Is that the bantam order?

nope.. the large fowl one.. bantam order is still in Welp's shopping cart while I debate over which I can not live without

 

[Aphrael]

I love your girls and new chicks. I'm happy with Ideal, too. Now I'm wondering about your little dog mixed in with them. Has that ever been a problem? I have a Maltese who has watched the girls from the git-go but I've never let them be together-together. I was afraid the dog would chase the chickens since they're easily spooked. Many times I tie the dog in the golf cart so she can watch me working outside and the chickens are beginning to jump up in the golf cart too. How did you first try them together?

Well, she was very watchful of them from the very get go when I got them as chicks. She would stand guard over the brooder and keep everything else away. It was soooo cute. I started by carefully letting her sniff and touch noses (or nose to beak) with a chick I was holding and watching her carefully. When she did fine with that I would open the brooder door and let her stand in the door and watch them. Before long if she heard them make a ruckus she would have fits until I opened the door and let her check on them and I swear that you could see her counting them each time.

I never let her have access to them unsupervised and I still don't now that they are grown. I worry if some mishap occurred that either she or one of them could be injured. But, whenever I am outside working she gets to be right there with me.
I would say this would be most likely to work the best with a dog that has a lot of protective or mothering instinct. My other chi has a fairly high prey drive so she was kept strictly away from the chicks. I do let her come outside with me now and the chickens are bigger than her so she is afraid of them. I still watch her closely though.

Oh, when your dog is out in the golf cart has she shown any tendency to lunge at them or anything? If she just watches them calmly I think you might have a good start to letting them get to know each other.

 

[Little Wing]

Got the Texas Sized Chicken Tractor framed up...Elvis is checking the hinges on the door for me, to see if they are welded on properly. lol Now gonna go find a couple of their old ride-on toys to rob some wheels off of.