Tractor Supply Co Sexing - Accurate?

[DesertBird]

If they are vaccinated you must used unmedicated. Giving medicated feed to a chick that has been vaccinated will end up nullifying both the vaccine and the benefits of the medicated feed.
For unvaccinated, it is up to you if you choose to use medicated or unmedicated. The additive in the medicated is usually Amprolium. This is not an antibiotic---it works by preventing the coccidiosis organism from taking up thiamine which it needs to replicate. It will allow some coccidiosis to remain in the chicks so they can build up some resistance to coccidiosis but will NOT get rid of an active coccidiosis issue.
According to what I have read there is no "wait time" for eating the eggs of a chicken who has been treated with Amprolium. The coccidiosis treatment "Corid" is amprolium, btw---higher concentration than what is in the feed.
I am using Blue Seal Homefresh Medicated Chick Starter but there are many brands out there. So far I am seeing great poops (who knew what a joy this could be, lol).
More than you probably ever want to know about coccidiosis can be found here :
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/coccidiosis/overview-of-coccidiosis-in-poultry

Thank you! That's very good to know. Hopefully the employee's know if they're vaccinated or not. If they don't, is it better to just go with unmedicated? Or take the chance with medicated?


Also, does anyone happen to know how old the chicks at TSC are? Not sure how hot it should be for them - I know it has to be in the 90s, but I also know you raise it by about 1 degree daily so I don't want to freeze them or burn them alive. I'm guessing they're about a week or two? Last time I got chicks from TSC, they told me they were about a week, but based on the noises some of my 4 month olds are making vs some of the other 4 month olds they were raised with, it doesn't seem like they're the exact same age - a few are still making half peeps? I don't know how to describe it. lol

 

[keesmom]

Thank you! That's very good to know. Hopefully the employee's know if they're vaccinated or not. If they don't, is it better to just go with unmedicated? Or take the chance with medicated?

The medicated/non-medicated feed issue is only an issue if the chicks are vaccinated for coccidiosis. If vaccinated for Marek's the feed makes no difference.

 

[apryl29]

I bought 8 chicks from Tractor Supply. 2 were survivors from a mail order and they were both females. The other 6 were bought in store. All happy and healthy, after the mail order deaths this was important. I got 3 amber browns - correctly sexed females. Then I got 2 bantams - straight run (1 cockerel, one pullet), and 1 leghorn - straight run (cockerel). Side note - I bought four 'females' from another local store and one ended up being a cockerel... I looked up their supplier and they said that a 90% sexing guarantee (which I assume is common). We were just lucky.. {sarcasm}. - If you do order online instead of just buying from TSC, check to see if you have a closer (local) supplier. I didn't realize their hatchery was so far away and would have ordered from one closer if I'd known better.

 

[apryl29]

AND you have to trust that the "shoppers" who are handling chicks are putting them back in the right bins. Our North 40 store must have had 15 different chick/turkey/duck bins...I dont know how they keep them straight. Some are obvious, some are not! There were Straight Run bins right next to the Pullet bin...easy for an oops to happen.

Our local stores have a sign up that says no picking them up, and fencing around the chick bins to keep people from grabbing at them. I assumed it was to keep people from stealing them, dropping the chicks, or letting little kids handle / hurt them. When you are actually buying chicks they will allow you to pick your own chicks out of the bins.

 

[DesertBird]

I bought 8 chicks from Tractor Supply. 2 were survivors from a mail order and they were both females. The other 6 were bought in store. All happy and healthy, after the mail order deaths this was important. I got 3 amber browns - correctly sexed females. Then I got 2 bantams - straight run (1 cockerel, one pullet), and 1 leghorn - straight run (cockerel). Side note - I bought four 'females' from another local store and one ended up being a cockerel... I looked up their supplier and they said that a 90% sexing guarantee (which I assume is common). We were just lucky.. {sarcasm}. - If you do order online instead of just buying from TSC, check to see if you have a closer (local) supplier. I didn't realize their hatchery was so far away and would have ordered from one closer if I'd known better.

Thank you very much. My last 2 batches of chicks have been healthy from TSC and lived, but I ended up with 3 cockerel's, and I'm hoping that doesn't happen again.. I didn't even get them from straight run. I have no idea what I'll do if I end up with more boys, because I get attached so easily! If the chicks don't look great or if they don't have any breeds I want, I'll probably look into ordering them from a local hatchery.

 

[DesertBird]

Our local stores have a sign up that says no picking them up, and fencing around the chick bins to keep people from grabbing at them. I assumed it was to keep people from stealing them, dropping the chicks, or letting little kids handle / hurt them. When you are actually buying chicks they will allow you to pick your own chicks out of the bins.

Same here, except the picking part. My TSC picks out the chicks for you, which is all good for me - I'd probably end up grabbing 8 cockerel's!

 

[apryl29]

There is a guy here in my area that actually sells "straight run", with a Rooster return policy. I figure it's kind of smart if you have a second "summer coop" setup. The customer buys chicks at $4 each, if you get a rooster, you return it to him at a set time sometime in August, and get your money back. 1-you get rid of a rooster, 2- he gets a "fed" bird--ready to be butchered!! ....only drawback I see is any disease etc...that might come back with them...but it it was away from his primary flock...maybe it wouldn't matter.

I wish the place I got my birds from did that. Though I would feel bad knowing that a bird I got attached to was being culled... It would be nice to have an option. I put an ad in the paper to get rid of my surprise cockerel. Thankfully the guy seemed happy to get him for breeding.

 

[apryl29]

Same here, except the picking part. My TSC picks out the chicks for you, which is all good for me - I'd probably end up grabbing 8 cockerel's!

That's how I felt, but they said it was a 50/50 chance that any chick was a boy... of the ones I let them pick from a straight run, 2/3 were boys. and 1/4 of the 'absolutely all girls' was a boy. smh. In the future, I'm either going to wait til the local store had their 'left overs' that are about a month old so I can compare them a little and hopefully avoid a boy, or buy individuals from our local fair. The 4H kids often have their show birds for sale so we're hoping to get a silkie. It also helps to buy from individuals b/c here you have to buy a min of 6 birds and we already have 14. I think we did pretty well though, out of 16 original chicks we got 3 boys. I've heard of people who got 1/2 cockerels! IDK what I'd do.

 

[DesertBird]

That's how I felt, but they said it was a 50/50 chance that any chick was a boy... of the ones I let them pick from a straight run, 2/3 were boys. and 1/4 of the 'absolutely all girls' was a boy. smh. In the future, I'm either going to wait til the local store had their 'left overs' that are about a month old so I can compare them a little and hopefully avoid a boy, or buy individuals from our local fair. The 4H kids often have their show birds for sale so we're hoping to get a silkie. It also helps to buy from individuals b/c here you have to buy a min of 6 birds and we already have 14. I think we did pretty well though, out of 16 original chicks we got 3 boys. I've heard of people who got 1/2 cockerels! IDK what I'd do.

I'm hoping they have some EE's, because that's what I'm looking into getting. If I end up with some EE cockerel's, I'm sure they'd be easier to rehome to someone looking to keep them than my RIR cockerel's? I've heard EE's are more docile and smaller.


Heading out to TSC now, will post some pictures here when I get back of the chicks in the bins and the ones I get!

 

[apryl29]

I have 4 EE I got from my local store (not TSC) in the spring, all girls. My TSC store didn't have anything that fancy. Just bantams, amber browns, tetra browns, and leghorns. I saw they had bins up for more chicks, but they weren't in yet when I was there so IDK what they have now. I just know they said they wouldn't be getting bantams this time. Good luck! I hope you find what you're looking for.