TSC rant

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I was one who mentioned it. Problem is, TSC labels their bins by what the hatchery sends. They have a box, and the hatchery says XYZ is in the box... they label the bin XYZ... So if the hatchery screws up, so does TSC. They're just at the consumer end and get the flak for it. If TSC trained their people better, they'd be able to tell some of the chicks apart and label them correctly... or would know that putting certain chicks together is a disaster... like Buff Orps and RSLs... cause the average person can't tell them apart as chicks.

This is exactly what happens! Kid workers who have no interest in learning about them just throw them in the bins. Whala mislabeled and usually TSC gets blamed.

 

[Beccazon]

So many people this spring, were posting here, wondering what they had because of TSC's inability to identify chicken breeds. And instead of labeling straight run chicks just that, people end up thinking they are getting pullets, then end up with cockerels they can't keep. Example...one person posted about how large some of their leghorns were compared to the others...pic revealed cornish crosses. I don't even shop there unless I need something no one else carries

That What is one of the things that the young man at our store misinformed a customer about wow I watched. She asked what was best breed if her Chickens would be enclosed rather than free ranging and his reply was "straight run is best if free ranging. Bantams are for pens". REALLY NOW

 

[paintedChix]

Well, I have access to MANY different TSCs starting w/i 15 miles from me. Two of the TSCs actually have some chicken knowledgeable employees IF they are working when i am there (since their hours are on a revolving status - it changes daily as to who is where when). My hours are 0700 - 1730, then I have drive time. I have appointments & commitments on Fridays/Saturdays into the afternoon hours. So my visit times are very limited and I actually often miss them completely because they close before I can get to them...

That said. Each of the TSCs that I've gone to is in different counties and they all use a different hatchery to get their chicks (from what i've been able to determine). I've never seen a great selection of chicks & considering I have a feed store that not only has hours that I can get to (& will be open if I call and say I'm on my way, but will be there @ such & such time after closing - I've been a customer with them for more than 15 years and currently spend 100s of $$/month with them), but they can special order specific breeds and get them in every week with theirs and will keep them 'till I can get there. MUCHO better. Also, the feed store now carries different breeds every week and has them most of the year, not just during "Chick month" like TSC.

Our TSCs used to allow customers access to the chicks and it never failed - chicks were put down/back into the wrong brooder(s). So YES, mixed breeds all together. Most employees didn't know the difference - shoot - as many different chickens as I've now had and have seen at shows/breeder farms, I can't tell the differences between chicks. Then, YES, there also appear to be some who just DON"T CARE - they have a lot of mixed duties that take them all over "their stores" and no-one at NCs seems to work in any one area. This year, each of the TSCs I visited put up tall fencing around their brooder set ups and locked the gates. Just getting an employee to come to the pen to look at chicks you couldn't see from outside of the pens was difficult (I only went to the 3 closest TSCs this year, not the 5 or 6 as in past years) - but it WAS safer for the chicks and there was LESS mixing. If the person who ordered the chicks was good enough to get breeds that were different colors, then it was that much easier. Some didn't even have that, though.

Because the chicks all seem to come from different hatcheries, I've been able to observe the chicks over the last 8 years. Some hatcheries have a BIG PROBLEM with chick type coming close to an actual breed SOP and with chick health/thrifty-ness. Sad thing is, I couldn't match the hatcheries - because most peeps at TSC, again, don't know which hatchery they are dealing with. The ordering managers aren't usually there when I'm there - late eves or late afternoon Sat or Sundays. I still don't know which hatcheries each TSC uses, but there are marked differences in chicks so feel confident saying they use different hatcheries.

Beccazon - you are in a state that has quite a few breeders of chickens, show access and Heritage chicken breeders. If you think you like a certain breed, I would certainly look into going that route. Also, not every chicken hatched, even by experienced, long time breeders, will come close to matching the breeds actual SOP. The goal is to get most of your stock coming close - and it is tricky achieving that. Then there are also different goals (for some breeds) w/i each breed SOP...

and be careful with the "reputable" hatchery statement. I've had mislabeled chicks that didn't come close to matching SOPs from several hatcheries now. I've also gotten the same from "breeders" - even NPIP breeders. I've been trying to figure out how those stay in business, but then again, like a hatchery, I've now dealt with several breeders that don't improve their own stock - just hatch lots of eggs to sell. THAT is much more frustrating than getting mislabeled stock from a hatchery, IMO - especially since the cost is significantly higher!

I've made other people upset that have wanted to purchase some of my eggs/from my culled breeding stock - but I've not hit the resulting birds that I want to market to anyone else yet "as mine"...

I've learned a lot over the years and I seem to learn more each day/week/month/year. I've enjoyed the stock I've gotten and I'm now trying to only get from breeders that I've managed to dig through and find out that they are improving their own stock (not just 1 or 2 parents popping out chicks that are all sold). I'm also trying to learn how to incubate my own now - yikes - serious learning curve. Right now, I'm in the mind set "how does ANYONE ever do this"...

Since my family has been horse breeders and I've bred Shetlands since 1995, I know how difficult it can be to get that elusive BEST specimen. It takes time, it takes resources, it takes learning to cull in some way. Even breeding best to best usually doesn't lead to best or more improved offspring. Not easy and not for the faint of heart - even with chickens (which can legally & yumily end up in the freezer when you cull). I've seen a lot of breeds (different animals - livestock and pets) over the last 30 years CHANGE a lot and not all for the better. I think it's great seeing Heritage breeders get started and really work to better their special breed and for those that work with more than one - WOW - I commend them...

I actually got my biggest start in chickens with TSC after being given 15 mixed bantam hatchery chicks at Christmas 2010... Of the first several purchases, not all made it/survived and can't say it was my lack of care. A few never laid - though they were definitely pullets... I can say that I never got roosters with my pullet purchases the first couple of years. That was a god-send! LOL. The pullets that I got all seemed to be what they were supposed to be - but WHOO were there differences in color/shades & even type , again LOL.

My "heartbreak" started when I started looking for specific breeds from "breeders"...

 

[Beccazon]

I picked up chicks from FFH because they were specialty breeds and supposed to be pullets. The man helping us was a supervisor, he asked if I would like to pick out my own and I said yes I prefer to. He said go ahead I'm (he) wasn't a chicken person and didn't like dealing with them!!!!

I had a slightly similar experience at our FFH but not quite as neglectfully lol. I am almost always helped by one of two girls that are in that area of the store all the time. That particular day they were very busy and yes they do have more specialty varieties which is cool! But that day this older gentleman said which ones do you want and I told him and he said which ones are those so I showed him the bin and he said I don't generally deal with the chickens but I can get birds for you if you know which ones you want. I pointed and he had the presence of mind to at least know that I should not be touching the birds myself for disease reasons and said that nicely to me. I wasn't going to touch one in mind you, I was pointing but he knew to stop me which I thought was commendable. And he informed me that that's not his department though he could help me to an extent. That's the kind of service I expect and appreciate. If I had had any questions he would have directed me to wait till one of the ladies was free

 

[Egghead_Jr]

To have a knowledgeable person with ability to sort out what came in large boxes from hatcheries would require paying a near liveable wage. As large box stores are not in the habit of paying even close to liveable wage they get the employees they have.

There is some skill involved to look at a box of 4 boxes that arrived and determine which two "breeds" or sexlinks are in that box. Teenagers or adults willing to get paid minimum wage to $12/hour don't even care what birds are what. Throw em in the bin and toss a label on it.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I had a slightly similar experience at our FFH but not quite as neglectfully lol. I am almost always helped by one of two girls that are in that area of the store all the time. That particular day they were very busy and yes they do have more specialty varieties which is cool! But that day this older gentleman said which ones do you want and I told him and he said which ones are those so I showed him the bin and he said I don't generally deal with the chickens but I can get birds for you if you know which ones you want. I pointed and he had the presence of mind to at least know that I should not be touching the birds myself for disease reasons and said that nicely to me. I wasn't going to touch one in mind you, I was pointing but he knew to stop me which I thought was commendable. And he informed me that that's not his department though he could help me to an extent. That's the kind of service I expect and appreciate. If I had had any questions he would have directed me to wait till one of the ladies was free

They had hand sanitizer stocked around their tanks, luckily I had the sound mind to use it lol.

 

[paintedChix]

That What is one of the things that the young man at our store misinformed a customer about wow I watched. She asked what was best breed if her Chickens would be enclosed rather than free ranging and his reply was "straight run is best if free ranging. Bantams are for pens". REALLY NOW

Well, depending on the breed, that IS TRUE. Straight run will (should, in my opinion) get a protective rooster or two who will watch out for their "girls" (the whole flock). Most Bantam breeds are specifically bred for cage/smaller pen/containment raising AND don't all do well in free range situations AND since smaller are easier to "pluck up" and run with by a multitude of predators.

Some breeds, both LF and Bantam do better than others in contained situations and others will benefit from free ranging.

So the employee is not entirely wrong. It was a broad statement. And sometimes, it just behooves the questioner to follow up with more questions and research.

SORRY, I seem to be on a rant on the employees side today, LOL.

 

[Beccazon]

I will not shop in our nearby TSC. I did once and the price listed on the bins did not match what they charged me. I didn't realize this until I got home and took a good look at the receipt. If they try to dupe their customers on supplies, why on earth would I trust them with labeling their chicks correctly. Never again.

I agree that price duping is bs. In fairness though, unless a store refuses to make it right or it is a continuous issue, human error happens and I can be pretty forgiving. But constant bird issues is now more a continuous issue than an offhanded human error there.

 

[Trimurtisan]

What is FFH?

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

What is FFH?

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