Has anyone had experience with tractor supply chicks as I know it is coming soon and I had just now thought about it and I was wondering if they vaccinated there chicks and how often u get a rooster from there straight run chicks and what all breeds they have all replies are welcome thanks
How well do you know your local Tractor Supply employees? Do you believe they know the difference between breeds, and understand what they ordered? There was more than one instance last year when Cornish X were sold as Leghorn pullets. Not a good thing if you want layers.
I wouldn't get hatchery straight run if I wanted pullets. Only get straight run if you also want chicken dinners. You stand the chance of getting males even with sexed pullets, and a LOT of males with straight run.
Tractor Supply tends to only offer a narrow variety of breeds. Not a bad thing if you don't have a breed in mind.
I am not sure if they get vaccinated chicks. My guess would be no. However I do not vaccinate the ones I hatch here, so it isn't a concern for me. If you have a virulent strain of Marek's where you are your decision will be different.
They usually have signs that say what breeds they are so I don't have to worry about that no we don't usually have marks here that I know of and I don't need them vaccinated I was just wondering though
our Tractor supply is Very good about labeling different breeds And sexed chicks. only issue is they are NOT vaccinated and I look at Mareks a WHOLE lot differently since my silkie breeder lost her WHOLE flock to Mareks some years back. also as I understand it, Mareks IS everywhere and can even travel miles in the wind! After seeing first hand the devastation and heartbreak Mareks gives I get my chicks vaccinated. so that's the only draw back I see with tractor supply chicks.if you choose not to vaccinate it is a fine place for chicks.
Ya well I don't really need them vaccinated so I didn't want to do the whole hatch thing again so I was wondering if I could just get a few from them is there a minimum u have to get or can u get as many as u want
Went there to get 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Australorps and 2 Speckled Sussex, I got the sussex but I got 4 Australorps instead of 2 Barred Rocks. I didn't know that the Barred Rock chicks have a light dot on the top of their heads. Neither did the folks at TSC. Oh well I am sure these 4 Australorps will be great chickens. Just wanted a little bred variety.
My TSC is in Jacksonville Fl. You must buy 6 chicks, or 12, or 18 etc.. They do not label them correctly because they do not have knowledge of chicks, and neither did my husband, lol. Therefore I ended up with an Australorp, she is 11 months and has yet to lay an egg. We wanted leghorns, BSL, and RSL. We bought 18 chicks, 8 were pullets..... One was also a cochin, it was also a roo. I will never let my husband buy chicks there again. Actually I don't let my husband pick out chicks unless I am there now. And the only reason I would not use TSC again is because of the fact that we got wrong breeds, not because we ended up with 10 roos. I do understand what straightrun can me if I buy them.
TSC has a minimum of 6 chicks. You can mix the chicks from all the containers.
Like other people mentioned some employees at TSC don't know the difference between breeds so you may get some chicks that are not what they said. Also some TSC employees allow you to select which chick you want, others they just grab any chick in the bin and put it in the box. Good luck
There are a few TSC that have very knowledgable employees that order various desirable breeds of sexed birds and some who just say "send me 100 of whatever you got". Typically you can ask the employees and it takes just a few minuets to tell if they know what's going on or if they just sell chicks.
The one in my town has employees who just sell chicks, that's as far as their knowledge goes and they aren't interested in it past that but with that said my daughter bought 12 straight run chicks from them and only two were roosters. Their minimum here is 6 but you can buy any number after that they don't have to be in groups of 6. And with ducks it's a minimum of 4
