thoughts on this TSC brooder situation?

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I follow Goldshaw Farm on youtube, he's a fellow Vermonter ( an honorary title, but ill let him have it) I have also noticed similar issues in addition to general nastiness of the brooders. here are a couple of his videos, I will say I am proud of him for speaking his mind and not backing down. also a video from another farm, hats off to them for being proactive and raising awareness. perhaps others around the country are also reaching out about this.

just opening this up for input, I am curious what you all think.

 

[bill3607]

I have 2 TSC's near me. One has stopped using these new brooders and gone back to the stock tanks while the other is still using these brooders.
I am not sure about the new brooders, but it really does not matter what they have them in if they are not properly taken care of the chicks.
The one near me that has went back to the stock tanks had so many piled in the stock tank the other day that they literally could hardly move and the waterer was completely bone dry. Of course, most of the chicks could not get to it anyway.
I mentioned the water situation to an employee. Then, I was still in the store for a good 15-20 minutes and it was not taken care of, so I mentioned it again as I was checking out and basically got blown off.
Also, there were several empty stock tanks available, so there was no need to pack them all in there like cord wood.

 

[Isadora]

All the ducklings and chicks at my local tractor supply looked fine the last couple times I was there. . . No dead chicks, huddling or anything else to suggest they were distressed. But I've seen a lot of photos of the things I just mentioned above. Sounds like a lot of chicks aren't doing well in them.

 

[KaleIAm]

I don't go to tsc, and I haven't seen the way they take care of their ducklings and chicks. But if they are treating live animals improperly I believe we shouldn't be supporting them by purchasing animals or anything else from them. If you want them to change it may help to let them know your intentions and get as many people in with you as possible. If you make their animal abuse nonprofitable why would they continue?

 

[KaleIAm]

I would like to think that the individual employees care about the health and safety of the birds...or that at lease there are employees at each store that care. I know personally I have a few folks in my circle who have what I consider..interesting.. techniques for care of their birds that I don't consider acceptable, but then hey, I am fairly new at this too. I firmly believe it is up to corporate to train their employees and to do some testing on new products before installing a nation wide entirely new system to be run by largely untrained personnel. furthermore, thermostatically controlled brooders are not that hard to create, the technology is simple and economical, compared to lost birds it is downright cheap, it would be a much safer way for people who are not well educated in care and situations that involve a multitude of individuals providing care to offer consistent and safe conditions for the animals they are selling there and would be a good addition to the brooders they are selling there to new and experienced owners.

I don't know anything about tsc's business model, but about 20 years ago I worked for a popular chain pet store for a few years. This pet store sells small animals, does not have great standards of animal care, and does not make money on the animals. The reason the store keeps selling small animals is because the people who buy those animals will return to buy supplies for the life of that animal. I suspect it is similar at tsc.

Lots of people working at the store I worked at cared about animals, but we were being paid at minimum wage or slightly above. If we brought concerns to the store managers we were told to go do our jobs (stock, cashier, sweep, whatever), or follow procedure for that issue - which was to put the animal in the back out of the customer's sight.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I think it depends on the store and who is taking care of them \ turning the brooders on and off.
( I feel like some stores don't give the brooders enough time to heat up before putting the chicks in. )
Overall, I'm not a big fan. I know that when chicks are piled together it means they are too cold and most of the chicks in these brooders are in piles, so my gut automatically tells me *they are too cold in those brooders.*
That's my take on the new TSC brooders.

 

[Knighstar679]

what I don’t get is why these heat plates are not adjustable in height. I have the heat plate they are using in these brooder and the directions clearly state that the chicks/ ducklings should be able to touch the plate for them to get the proper level of heat. Now that said it also has a heater function for coops which just warms the air around it. But the key to those heat plates is adjusting them to the right height for chicks to be warm. If they had made them more adjustable I think these brooders might actually work if they are not over crowded. I also think that it is very stressful to be shipped in then put on display like they do is extremely stressful on babies.

 

[fatty and friends]

it’s killing so many ducks/chicks, my friend had 3 ducklings from tractor supply die (she was doing everything right, it wasn’t her fault at all)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I personally love them, as I've said on every thread about them here. My store has seen fewer losses now as opposed to in the troughs. A LOT of stuff was going wrong for everyone a month ago, heck, I lost 2/3 of my chicks I ordered in and my brooders were perfect. People seem to conveniently forget tsc ships birds in and that they don't hatch them. There are going to be losses, just like if you were to ship them in yourself

 

[SunnyChicks93]

Hate them! The one in Greeley CO had so many stuffed in them not all had access to food, water, or heat. I feel so badly for them. The turkeys where so cold and crushing eachother to get under the heat plate. I follow this guy on YouTube and I am so glad he spoke up and is spreading awareness