TSC Chick Days what breeds?

[Ridgerunner]

If you look at that form, the delivery address is your address, not Tractor Supply. And the minimum is 25 birds. I don’t know what TSC charges if you order through them, but I’d just order direct from the hatchery unless ordering through TSC gives you a reduced volume discount somehow.

In the past some feed stores would let you order a small number of chicks that would be delivered to the store so you could beat the hatchery minimum order requirement. My local TSC never would do that when I asked about it, you could order through them but it was exactly like the above, 25 birds delivered to your post office. I generally don’t use the other feed stores, none are all that convenient. It doesn’t hurt to ask but I don’t know that it does any good to argue if they say they don’t do it.

I’d never heard of Hoover in Iowa, but Privett in New Mexico and Townline in Michigan are at least familiar. They’ve all three been around a long time which to me means they know what they are doing. I don’t know if I’ll remember it but that’s interesting information. Since mine used Privett last year, they probably will again. And I’ll probably ask again.

Thanks for sharing. It’s good to get information from someone with inside information.

 

[byclover2]

 

[LadyVictorian]

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[LadyVictorian]

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[byclover2]

If you look at that form, the delivery address is your address, not Tractor Supply. And the minimum is 25 birds. I don’t know what TSC charges if you order through them, but I’d just order direct from the hatchery unless ordering through TSC gives you a reduced volume discount somehow.

In the past some feed stores would let you order a small number of chicks that would be delivered to the store so you could beat the hatchery minimum order requirement. My local TSC never would do that when I asked about it, you could order through them but it was exactly like the above, 25 birds delivered to your post office. I generally don’t use the other feed stores, none are all that convenient. It doesn’t hurt to ask but I don’t know that it does any good to argue if they say they don’t do it.

I’d never heard of Hoover in Iowa, but Privett in New Mexico and Townline in Michigan are at least familiar. They’ve all three been around a long time which to me means they know what they are doing. I don’t know if I’ll remember it but that’s interesting information. Since mine used Privett last year, they probably will again. And I’ll probably ask again.

Thanks for sharing. It’s good to get information from someone with inside information.

Correct -- special order is 25 or more birds. BUT, good news is that TSC will be able to sell birds online in a quantity of 10 this year, coming from Hoover's! That is coming soon ...

 

[LadyVictorian]

If you look at that form, the delivery address is your address, not Tractor Supply. And the minimum is 25 birds. I don’t know what TSC charges if you order through them, but I’d just order direct from the hatchery unless ordering through TSC gives you a reduced volume discount somehow.

In the past some feed stores would let you order a small number of chicks that would be delivered to the store so you could beat the hatchery minimum order requirement. My local TSC never would do that when I asked about it, you could order through them but it was exactly like the above, 25 birds delivered to your post office. I generally don’t use the other feed stores, none are all that convenient. It doesn’t hurt to ask but I don’t know that it does any good to argue if they say they don’t do it.

I’d never heard of Hoover in Iowa, but Privett in New Mexico and Townline in Michigan are at least familiar. They’ve all three been around a long time which to me means they know what they are doing. I don’t know if I’ll remember it but that’s interesting information. Since mine used Privett last year, they probably will again. And I’ll probably ask again.

Thanks for sharing. It’s good to get information from someone with inside information.

Hoovers is pretty good. Our old mom and pop feed store use to order from them and every year the chicks were always very alert and healthy. We got 10 bantams from our feed store and they all did well though we got straight run and ended up with 9 roo's and 1 hen so we had 8 roo's go into a pot. We got a few ducks that had been from Hoover's as well to be a companion to my rescue duckling.1 drake and 1 hen, pekins. I ended up ordering from Meyer hatchery though since in April their chick min is 3 which blew my mind since I only needed 8 chicks and TCS won't carry the breeds/colors I am looking for.

 

[Chribroo]

Is their any new news if the breed Tractor supply will be getting? And what hatchery?

There are two different types of red sex links (or black sex links) offered by the hatcheries. Each hatchery is as different as each Tractor Supply. And different Tractor Supply’s can use different hatcheries. Mine has used McMurray and Privett in the past, I have no idea which hatchery yours would use in Michigan.

One type of sex link is made by crossing two different breeds of chickens. A lot of hatcheries use Rhode Island Red roosters but a few use New Hampshires as the rooster. Others probably use other red roosters. Silver Laced Wyandottes, Delaware, Rhode Island Whites, and White Rocks are often used as hens. These red sex links are a lot like their dual purpose parents. They lay pretty well and reach a reasonable size. They are dual purpose.

The other type of red sex link are the commercial egg laying hybrids like ISA Browns, though there are several others. These have been developed over the decades to have a smaller body and lay a lot of larger eggs. These are extremely efficient at converting feed to eggs. These are not crosses of certain breeds. Like the hybrid broilers they have been developed at great expense by the commercial egg laying industry. They often contain some leghorn, but these companies are not going to give up their secrets on how they developed them. Why make it easier for their rivals?

My local Tractor Supply usually has six bins. One for bantams, one for ducks, and one for the hybrid meat birds. The others can vary. Usually one is labeled pullets or sometimes red pullets. I assume these are some type of sex links. There is usually a straight run bin. These appear to be dual purpose mixed breeds, all kinds of colors and such. There is no telling what will be in that last bin, sometimes it is labeled as a specific breed, sometimes it is some kind of mix. It seems to change on a weekly basis.

The best person to talk to so you can find out what your TSC will have and when is the person managing “chick days” if you can find them. Some people that work there have a much better handle on what is going on than others, so try to find out who is doing the ordering and managing the “chick days” part. My local TSC does a really good job in taking care of the chicks once they get them, the bins are dry and clean with clean food and water always available. Temperature is well-managed. But the lady that manages that part isn’t that good at the different chicken breeds. I haven’t specifically asked her who does the ordering, I probably need to ask just to satisfy my curiosity. I get the feeling chatting with her that someone higher in the organization does that. A couple of years ago they had a bin labeled ISA Brown straight run. When I saw that they had a bin full of yellow chicks with only a couple of red ones left. She did not know they were red sex links but obviously others did. When I mentioned that ISA Browns are red sex links she knew what I was talking about.

My TSC only carries chicks for about six weeks, February and March, maybe just making it into April. They certainly do not carry them until August.

Some TSC’s will order certain orders for you so you can take advantage of their bulk shipping and avoid minimum orders. The hatchery will mark them, usually with a special color of food dye on the head. Mine doesn’t do that, they will order them from the hatchery for you for a cost, but the chicks ship to your post office and the hatchery minimums apply. I can do that myself and cheaper.

It doesn’t do you any good for me to tell you what my TSC does, each one is different. The best source for what yours does is the person in charge of chick days at your local TSC. If you can find out which hatchery they get the chicks from you may be able to go online to that hatchery and see what kind of Red Sex Links they sell.

Good luck!

 

[byclover2]

Is their any new news if the breed Tractor supply will be getting? And what hatchery?

Every store gets different breeds, based on what hatches from the hatchery that supplies them, which are all different. The store will not know what they're getting until they arrive, so you just have to call or come in. Starting in a week or so, TSC will sell 20+ breeds of chicks online at TractorSupply.com, in quantities of 10.

 

[Chribroo]

I called today and I could understand the kid.. he had to ask someone. Going in tomorrow! Thanks!

quote name="byclover2" url="/t/1151547/tsc-chick-days-what-breeds#post_18101694"]
Every store gets different breeds, based on what hatches from the hatchery that supplies them, which are all different. The store will not know what they're getting until they arrive, so you just have to call or come in. Starting in a week or so, TSC will sell 20+ breeds of chicks online at TractorSupply.com, in quantities of 10.
[/quote]

 

[mommakatx2]

Our small town Tractor Supply (operating as Del's Feed Store) is selling Ameraucauna, Red Sex Link, Barred Rock, RIR, and I think mixed bantams. In a couple weeks they well have turkeys and ducks. I already ordered my chicks from a hatchery I may be tempted by turkeys....