I was just at TSC, and their Chick Days started about one hour before I got there. They have new bins!
No more stock tanks with filthy waters sitting in the shavings.
I wish I would have thought to take a picture. They are multi level brooders with plastic coated wire on the floor and slide out trays beneath. They have a heat plate suspended in the middle for the chicks to warm up under. I didn’t see the food, but the water was in a trough outside the brooder where the chicks reach their heads out to get a drink. The ducklings were drinking a lot, and without making a huge mess!
The one drawback I noticed was that the heat plates must not have been warm enough. All the chicks were huddled together underneath them crying. Just like they do if you have a heat lamp that’s not warm enough. The guy did say that they were only put in there within the last hour, so maybe they hadn’t had time to acclimate yet. But to me it says that the brooder isn’t warm enough.
The guy also said he was waiting to decide whether he likes the new system until he sees whether it stinks more than the troughs they used before. He suspects the poop in the slide out trays will stink really quickly between cleanings.
In my opinion, I won’t be buying any chicks from these bins if they continue to look like these ones did this morning. Chicks are stressed enough as it is from the shipping. If they remain stressed in the store, then I don’t think they will do very well in their new homes. To be fair, I did get there within the first hour of them having a new system. Next time I go buy feed, I’ll see if they have got it working better.
Oh! And I was really impressed that the signs said “Easter Egger” instead of “Americana” !! They finally figured that one out! Way to go Tractor Supply!
No more stock tanks with filthy waters sitting in the shavings.
I wish I would have thought to take a picture. They are multi level brooders with plastic coated wire on the floor and slide out trays beneath. They have a heat plate suspended in the middle for the chicks to warm up under. I didn’t see the food, but the water was in a trough outside the brooder where the chicks reach their heads out to get a drink. The ducklings were drinking a lot, and without making a huge mess!
The one drawback I noticed was that the heat plates must not have been warm enough. All the chicks were huddled together underneath them crying. Just like they do if you have a heat lamp that’s not warm enough. The guy did say that they were only put in there within the last hour, so maybe they hadn’t had time to acclimate yet. But to me it says that the brooder isn’t warm enough.
The guy also said he was waiting to decide whether he likes the new system until he sees whether it stinks more than the troughs they used before. He suspects the poop in the slide out trays will stink really quickly between cleanings.
In my opinion, I won’t be buying any chicks from these bins if they continue to look like these ones did this morning. Chicks are stressed enough as it is from the shipping. If they remain stressed in the store, then I don’t think they will do very well in their new homes. To be fair, I did get there within the first hour of them having a new system. Next time I go buy feed, I’ll see if they have got it working better.
Oh! And I was really impressed that the signs said “Easter Egger” instead of “Americana” !! They finally figured that one out! Way to go Tractor Supply!
