What do you think of Tractor Supply’s new chick bins?

[Prairielife]

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!

Oh, thank you for that photo! I know, right? I have seen metal stacking type brooders on Craigslist before, but they were pricey, and a two hour drive away. But these TSC ones look great, with that heat pad instead of lamps.

I hope so too.

This is a good point. From what they have told me, they never know when chicks will arrive until the PO calls them to pick them up. So I bet you are right about them not plugging them in until they got the chicks.

Yes, and we all know how “good” their previous system was! But really, I’ve gotten to know many of the employees at the two TSCs near me. They are a good group, and take pretty good care of their chicks. I think this system will be easier on the employees. They won’t have to deal with those waterers constantly being soiled, and chicks constantly getting wet.

Apparently some Tractor Supply’s had these systems last year. I found another thread about it. I would be interested to hear about people’s experiences with them at their stores. It must have gone well from Corporate’s point of view, or they wouldn’t be expanding them to more stores.

I dislike these new bins terribly. The chicks dont have a happy cheep anytime I come in. I just want to hurry and leave because of their sad cries. They always look chilled and so many had extreme pasty butt indicating stress. I mentioned these concerns to several staff members who truly couldn't care less about it. Broke my heart and left me so frustrated that I did not purchase my needed items. The other local feed store in town has a chicken nursery. They have someone always cleaning the water, shavings and separating extra stressed chicks that need extra care. Tractor Supply has really disappointed me in their seemingly lack of care with these bins and careless staff.

 

[Noob-in-ETX]

The only way changes may be made is if corporate hears about it. :/

Yea and even then, nobody at corporate cares most of the time, generally speaking about corporate America, not necessarily TSC. IME the best way to get a reaction to something like this through social media. Most companies are worried about something negative going viral. They look to be active on Twitter. @TractorSupply. I usually DM first and see if the issue gets corrected. It usually does because they know you're already on Twitter and could easily tweet at them publicly. I've had good results on there for customer service issues. In fact, it's the only thing I use it for. Typically get a real response from an actual person pretty quickly, and not some generic, auto-reply, or no response at all.

Re-reading my post, I just joined this site and it sounds like I'm some kinda Twitter shill. I'm really not, haha. I just hate to hear about that going on and sharing my experience. I don't even own stock in the company, though I wish I would have bought some this time last year.

 

[Finnie]

It looks like they might make the 5-stack unit available for sale. Of course, if you try to click “Add to Cart”, you get a message that it’s not available to purchase. I don’t know what’s up with that.

I think individual levels would be better, but I can see how the solidity if the stack would be more durable. I do think my husband would have a fit if I paid $1300 though!

I’m just going to keep checking their website though, to see if I can ever get my hands on the $200 model.

@RebekahTN What do you think?

 

[PepsiCatt]

not to be a grump, but i saw Gold Shaw Farm's video, and i think, that he is half right.
the delaware pullets i got had pasty butt

 

[awizkey]

Tractor Supply spent 10 million dollars upgrading these systems ($2,500 each set up). I personally like the brooder style radiant heat panels. It mimics mother more naturally. It doesn't disrupt the at night with light. I have also read it reducing pecking and pasty butt. I like that they aren't pooping up their water and food. The only drawback I have heard is when a customer says they want a specific chick. They are a bit harder to catch. Our store takes good care of them. I just removed 2 chicks from mom and they were crying like crazy when I put them under the brooder panel, so if they just arrived, they were probably stressed out, just like with any other animal.

 

[tigger19687]

I have to say the 1 thing I Love about them is the WATER SYSTEM !
Easy to see you need water, it's kept clean. Now if they would only keep up on filling it. I've been in TSC 3 times and all 3 times at least one was empty.
Yes I went to find a kid in the back to tell them.....

 

[Happy Helper]

I would think that the chicks need shavings or something that they can scratch on. This keeps them entertained and happy. Maybe at TSC for a couple of days but I would want a better system when I bring them home.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

My TSC still only has the height adjustment brackets on the top brooders. Brand new chicks just don’t get warm enough with the heat way up there.

 

[Dinoroar]

I didn’t linger too long but I was in tsc the other day and I noticed the chicks had extreme pasty butt. Made me feel bad for the chicks and for anyone buying them having to deal with that.

The store here always seems understaffed and they really aren’t equipped to deal with living things. Their plants all look half dead and the trees out front are always laying knocked over by the wind... & not like it just happened. I know the employees are working as hard as they can but clearly they can’t keep up.

 

[viggo63]

I have to say the 1 thing I Love about them is the WATER SYSTEM !
Easy to see you need water, it's kept clean. Now if they would only keep up on filling it. I've been in TSC 3 times and all 3 times at least one was empty.

The troughs look nice and they do stay clean, but the design is poor. They are wide and shallow, so as the levels go down, food and water don't flow toward the chicks. It's especially bad for the food because once they eat what they can reach, a perfect chick-sized gap opens up and they can crawl right out, either to be stuck in the trough or manage to jump out of the top of it and onto the floor.