Tractor Supply Employee Knowledge About Chicks

[KDbeads]

Totally not just TSC, my local feed store who is the 'it place' for chicken stuff is sorely undereducated. They feel the need to correct me every time I say easter egger instead of ameracauna (sp?)

They had no idea you could worm chickens with anything other than wazine, don't even carry poultry dust and tell people that leghorns are the only chicken that lay white eggs! Tell you only to buy layer if they stop laying, otherwise buy scratch.

Sorry, but if you are selling chickens, you need to know at least the basics on care and feeding. Goes for all feed stores.

 

[RThomas]

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I would hope my car dealer could tell the difference between a Ford and a Toyota

 

[bds613]

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so very true!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I worked in sales for many years. Doesn't matter what you are selling. You need to be familiar enough with the product to sell it properly. Unfortunately, it seems that TSC has a lot in common with the people at my feedstore - they know just enough to be unwilling to admit what they don't know and won't learn from someone who does.

 

[silkiechicken]

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I would hope my car dealer could tell the difference between a Ford and a Toyota

I sure hope so too, since they are labeled with their names and symbols on front and back unlike most poultry.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

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+1

You expect your mechanic to be able to tell you the basics of how your car works, but you don't expect the car dealer to be able to tell you the same things, much less even the names of the major engine components! I mean, I could make the same complaint that the car sales man didn't know where the oil filter was on a truck when I asked how easy it is to access. But is that fair? Feed stores do a whole lot more than just sell chicks and feed. Fencing, large animal, small animal, building supplies etc.

You both make good points. It's not just TSC. We have a local farm store that is a chain by a different name. The sad part is, the guy that knows about chickens, works in the plumbing dept. and the guy that knows about plumbing works in the paint dept.! At the end of the day, all the chicks at our local store come from Welp, and all you have to do is ask for the box the chicks came in if the plumbing dept., guy isn't around! They usually keep the boxes for a few days here, in back somewhere. But... I always consult with the plumbing guy. He is a wealth of knowledge! Doesn't know alot about breeds, like the blues, he thought I meant they were dyed but, he knows much about poultry health and their needs. You have to accept the fun stuff as part of life! It's a wonderful shopping experience!
Anyway you slice it, the stories are still a crack up!

 

[NYREDS]

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Thank you! I don't expect the kid who bags my groceries to be a nutritiionist or the guy who changes my oil to be an engineer so why would I expect a minimum wage worker in a feed store to be a poultry expert? It astounds me that people think knowing what a pullet somehow makes them superior.

I was not bashing the girl at TSC. She is very friendly and helpful. Or TSC for that matter. I just found it amusing. That's all. TSC is supposed to be a company "specializing" in farm and garden sales. I would expect the employees to know what they are selling and what they are talking about. Wal-Mart specializes in selling the most cheap Chinese made crap to make the most money. In my opinion there is no comparison. Thanks!

How'd we get to Wal-Mart from here?

 

[Uzuri]

With people finding out about the dyed easter chicks you can't really blame them for messing up on the blue thing -- after all, an average Joe coming in asking for blue chicks might want just that!

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

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I was raised to do a job right and not half-@$$ it, and I don't understand those that think they're so dang awesome they don't have to. As long as people try to do their jobs right I don't mind, but most of these people nowadays don't even pretend to care. I don't give a dang what your salary is, if you're not doing your best then you don't deserve a penny of it. That's the way I was brought up and I live by that standard. I can see some kid just getting out of school not knowing much, but believe me, my first non-farm job I got there early and learned everything I could about where I worked. Take ACE Hardware for instance (where I live they're a town joke,) not one of those people cares, you go to ask them a question and they literally scatter, you have to chase them down. Do you think that makes a good employee? Of course no one can know everything, but at least trying to learn helps a lot. I think those are the kinds of people that most, if not all, here are refering to. We're not saying we're better by any stretch of the imagination (at least I know I'm not,) but if you're going to work somewhere, at least try to learn what all you carry.

 

[CityChicker]

What a funny thread!

I can't believe how dense people are (and I just defended feed stores yesterday). They should, at a minimum, have at least basic knowledge like know what a "pullet" is. I can understand them not knowing a lot of detail about the birds because they simply can't know everything about all the different things in the store. Still though, they need to know the very basics. Our "big box" store we shop at here is really pretty good though. I think it is like the CO equivalent of TSC and maybe even owned by them since we don't have TSC here and these stores (Murdoch's) even have "chick days". Anyway, they are not nearly as bad as some described here.

My worse feed store employee knowledge issue of all time was with a "ma and pop" operation though. I called looking for "waterfowl feed" and they had no idea what I was looking for and insisted they never heard that term "waterfowl". I talked to the owner/manager. Now, I know the guy has worked at this mill for YEARS. It has been there at least since I was a child, so at a minimum, 20-30 years. He also insisted he never heard that term "waterfowl" even after I explained that I meant ducks and geese. Just unbelievable. The only other really bad thing was the girl at the pet store that didn't know what wood chips were. When I asked her for small animal bedding she took me to an aisle FILLED with different types of wood chips and said- "see, we have animal bedding, but no wood chips". What an idiot.