I'm at a loss to understand how someone could misconstrue what I wrote to think I am being insulting to "BYC readership" or "newbys".
The magazine *is* written mainly for those new to poultry, and the franchise stores like
TSC *are* designed to cater to the Urban Hobby Farmer and small landowners. If you read a little closer, you will realize my remark about someone with "five acres that they want to keep
mowed like a lawn", is specifically about people who are NOT farming. Most folks who start out with poultry do not walk into an APA show, track down a top breeder and buy birds. They happen to be in a farm store to purchase something else and on an impulse buy a few chicks. There is nothing wrong with that. Everyone starts somewhere and we aren't all Poultry Royalty with a generation or two behind us who have had chickens since God was a little boy. The point is that those are the people the franchise stores WANT to attract as customers because they know the brand new owner of those three or four hatchery chicks is going to need a brooder lamp, grit, feeders, oyster shell, waterers, and feed. IOW, the customer is going to keep coming back and spending money on poultry supplies as long as they have the birds, and if, while they are there, they buy a new toy or t shirt or a pair of butterfly boots that is just that much better for the store's bottom line. Management realizes their customers aren't generally walking in to buy a ton of feed every week so the store makes up sales with other, less utilitarian items. There is nothing condescending in pointing out that they understand their market. I don't know, your 3rd generation dairy farmer friends in the butterfly boots might be buying their feed at the local
TSC, though that particular retail chain doesn't sell bulk feed, and they don't deliver. Unless you grow and mix your own grains, I've found those are two pretty important considerations if you're feeding very many animals that eat as much as a lactating dairy cow. It's the difference between occasional purchases like some cool boots or a toolbox for the pickup and making regular purchases your livelihood depends on. But anything is possible, and as always, YMMV. But hey, next time I'm in the mood for butterfly boots of my own I'll know where to look.
OTOH, traditional feed stores *will* sell you a ton of feed every week, every day, and twice on Friday so you don't run out.
Depending on where you shop, they could also be custom mixing and milling it, and might even deliver it if you're buying enough in bulk. It's not "insulting" to anyone to point out that those stores also understand their customer base. What I wrote was "
But when you get serious about your livestock and poultry, around here you're more likely to buy about a half ton of feed at a time from one of the local feed stores that might not have scented candles and Ertil toys for the kids, but the feed is going to be consistently good quality." The point of buying that much livestock and poultry feed at a time isn't that you are "big", it's that you want consistency. (A half ton of feed is only 20 fifty pound bags, but if one fourth is reduced to powder, you are throwing money away) "Serious" has nothing to do with size (either in acres or number of animals) but it has everything to do with experience. As friendly and helpful as that FFA student may be, if I want to discuss what I'm feeding my animals to increase production or ferret out a potential problem, I'm going to want to talk to someone who makes his or her living
formulating, mixing and selling feed, rather than a high school student with a part time job.
The only "not cool" thing about pointing out that most people who buy chickens don't keep them even three years, and only a small percentage will go on to raise standard bred poultry is that it's true. They move or get sick or die or the kids need to be driven to activities or a dog gets in and kills everything and they're heartbroken or the neighbors complain or the SO complains or someone is allergic to feathers or they just loose interest. It happens every day. That is not an attitude, it's just a fact. Concerning magazines like Hobby Farms Chickens, I specifically wrote that "
They provide a valuable service with articles on basic animal husbandry and the joys of keeping chickens that are designed to inspire the new owner. We *want* those new people to be interested in Buckeyes (really, any standard breed of poultry)" and that "
Considering how many breeds are in decline, it's great that the Buckeye can garner recognition every 4 years or so in a glossy, full color magazine. Truth be told, it's great when *any* of the old breeds are featured." How anyone could read that as either negative about the magazine or discouraging and insulting to a neophyte with their first chicks is beyond me.
) who bought 3 or 4 baby chicks will be going through about a bag of feed about every two months so it should garner plenty of attention.
