There are ***numerous*** threads on the new brooders. Put me in the camp of "its complicated" and "I won't make the mistake of some vocal others in saying the brooders are the cause of seemingly high mortality this year". There is a tremendous amount of ignorance on display on this topic, and an abundance of responses driven by emotion without a complete picture.
What we seem to know, as a community, is that -
Some TSCs are seeing very high mortality of birds before delivery. Some immediately after delivery, some reportedly after selling birds to end consumers. Others, claim no more than usual.
Regionally, weather and other delays upon the USPS (who has had problems of their own this year) has been so bad that certain lawmakers (in NY, for instance) are pushing legislation to forbid USPS transport of live animals in their States. Multiple stores have reported chicks arriving both early and late.
So have some posters, receiving chicks mailed directly from hatcheries via USPS.
The new brooders, for at least some of their trays, seem to lack much ability to adjust heat plate height - a potential concern for banties, less concerning for pekin ducks. They also need to be heated in advance of bird arrival, as heat plates are a contact, rather than radiant, heat source. In some cases, for whatever reason, that's not been done at individual stores. Training and supervision of employees with the new equipment has also been a problem, in at least some stores.
The brooders themselves are not "new" technology - everything about them is tested, accepted by the community, and the overall design of them has been available (particularly for commercial breeding) for a long time. Like a new car, the model may be fresh on the market, but very little of what's under the hood has changed in years, if not decades.
Some stores continue to use a mix of stock tanks and the new brooders, making it difficult to determine whether observed weak chicks were caused by conditions we can see (the new brooders) or some other factor entirely.
There is at least one reasonably credible claim of cocci, following introduction of new birds to an existing flock, which *may* have originated somewhere in the supply or delivery chain.
and that, as is typical human, events are being used to drive a message based on pre-existing feelings regarding Hatchery birds,
TSC and Hoovers' specifically, farm stores generally, and even USPS which varies by the speaker. "Never let a good crisis go to waste". Facts (as best we can determine them) be damned.
...at the end of the day, that's a lot of variation, and a lot of noise. Further, not having access to
TSC's corporate reports, we are relying on anecdotes, not data. In my mind, it argues for differing causes (and perhaps multiple causes), location by location.
