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

[cluckingheck]

Not the greatest of pictures, but it seemed like the chicks were running around. I did get two blue rocks and the “Ameraucanas” ( EEs, more like it ) and one of the rocks were tiny and yesterday I found her with her wings droopy. She’s fine now, but she didn’t know how to eat or drink yet.

 

[chickentrains]

tractor supply shoved Cinnamon queens and favarolle's together

guess which breed the novice chicken owner came home with?

 

[Finnie]

I was just there this morning and saw them for the first time. According to one of the employees, in the old days, they used to put the chicks in stock tanks in the back room and keep them there for 24 hours so they would acclimate. Now they take them and immediately put them in these brooders. Plus they suspect some shipping issues that stress the chicks further.

I was at my local TSC on Saturday and they had two new printed off signs on the brooder stacks. One was an explanation of the new brooder system and the other was telling that all new shipments of chicks are being held for 24 hours in the back in stock tanks to help them get over shipping stress before being put out on the floor for sale.

That is a departure from past years, and even the first shipment this year, because I will generally call to ask what kinds they have, and if they just got their shipment they will tell me to give them about an hour to get around to unpacking them and then I can buy them. This year (the first post in this thread) I asked when Chick Days had started, and the employee said they got the chicks literally an hour before. I think the new signs are in response to feedback they have been getting about the new stacks, and the new policy to hold chicks for 24 hours is to reduce how many die in their new homes. It does look like management cares.

 

[jher77]

I've bought chicks before from the co-op that literally came straight out the post office shipping box, traveled 30 mins back to home, started up my brooder (wasn't hot yet), food and water wasn't ready yet, and didn't loose any.

Sounds like they want to see how many dies before selling them and are seeing if it is a fault on their end (new brooders) or shipping end (shipping problems).

 

[ChicNmom]

My TSC also has the new brooders. The Blue Seal has had them for years.

I had to tell one of the staff members that some of one breed had noticeable pasty butt.
She dropped what she was doing to go take care of it so I thought that was a good sign.

 

[0die]

I noticed the new bins too...

But my problem with TSC is still the same...most that are working there have no idea what they have. There is no guarantee that what you are buying is what you will actually get. They are just sales people moving product. They can miss label, miss place, mix up, whatever. Not intentional but they have no clue what they are looking at.

If you don't care as long as it lays eggs then fine.

I always go to the local feed store first. Prices are just about the same and the ladies that work there are the same every day, every week, every year. They are not chain store employees constantly flipping over. They know their birds and know what exactly they are giving the customer. Better variety too. I want specific breeds since mine are as much for backyard decoration as for eggs.

 

[Finnie]

Here's your picture. Love them, and want to know where I can get them too

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.

Newly unpacked chicks are always stressed/chilled/complaining. Hopefully that is what you are witnessing.

I hope so too.

Plus the heaters take a bit to warm up. Very possible they didn't plug them in the night before and only when the chicks were added

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.

I saw them, thought they looked good. I guess it depends on ease for the associate. The best system in the world is only as good as the person taking care of it

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.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That’s a good point. I know a lot of times chicks linger there for 3 or 4 weeks. They might get too tall. Especially the ducklings and cornish crosses. They might have to pull the old troughs out after all.

Last year, the chicks barely stayed 3 days, even in October when they finally stopped selling them. If they had something you wanted, you had to buy it then and there cause it might not even be there in a few hours

 

[Sally PB]

My local TSC had chicks today. They looked happy and healthy, running around, eating, drinking. I also found out where they get their chicks, so I can look for when specific breeds are available.

 

[NatJ]

want to know where I can get them too

They're sometimes called a "battery brooder." I've seen them for sale at several places.

https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/five-deck-battery-brooder
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/poultry_brooder.html
https://incubatorwarehouse.com/0540-deck-game-bird-poultry-battery-brooder.html

They are not cheap, but they are very efficient in terms of how many chicks in how many square feet of floor, because of being stacked up. And with the feed and water outside, they aren't taking space away from the chicks, and are easy to tend.

A very long time ago, I recall seeing something of the sort available and marketed as a "broiler brooder" or something of the sort. There were two sections on the bottom very similar to this, then a section on the top that was taller with no, or minimal heat. When I say a "very long time ago" I'm talking on the order of 40-50 years or more. They were used at the feed store we used then (long since gone) for the chicks they carried in the spring.

Several places have something similar to what you describe. It was in the catalogs about 25 years ago when I first started looking at such things, but I don't know how many years it existed before that.

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/start_and_grow_unit.html
https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/start-grow-cage-unit
https://incubatorwarehouse.com/0703-poultry-brooder-and-grow-off-pens-set.html

It's got one heated brooder on the top, and the lower two levels are taller pens with no heat. They say the top level can hold 48 chicks up to 4 weeks of age, and then the chicks can be split into the two lower pens.

I've never been quite sure if it was for raising meat birds (butcher at 8 weeks), or for starting layer chicks (move to other housing around 8 weeks.)

(Yes, some of the pages I listed have the items sold out: but the product pictures are still there to look at, and anyone who really wants to buy one can watch for it to come back in stock.)