What more could feed stores do to help chicken owners out?

[azule03]

I own chickens, as my parents did before me. And I work in a feed store and am wondering if there are supplies or advice, or information written down to aide with the interesting complexities of owning poultry....

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Seems one item many do not stock is Corid, concentrated amprolium, which is much preferred over Sulmet for cocci, a very common ailment of young chicks.

What I'd like to see is a feed store NOT tossing antibiotics at chicken owners for every question they ask of an employee. I've had it done to me, even when I knew I needed a coccidiostat, not an antibiotic, asked for it by name, and was still offered Terramycin-I had to tell the guy that an antibiotic did nothing for cocci and it was a waste of money. If we can just stop that type of bad advice, it would be swell.

 

[Katiedid]

I'd have to agree that making sure the advice feed stores give is accurate is the best thing they can do for their customers. (I also gave my chickens antibiotics for some unknown reason last fall. Now that I know a little more, I realize that this was nonsensical. I was looking for a wormer and got bad advice.) It sounds like you really know your stuff, but making sure the other staff do too would be great. I've also been told that we don't need to use grit in our area (I am not free ranging, so I'm a lot more comfortable giving them grit) and that there is no difference between laying and grower feed. Now I ask my questions on byc instead of the feed store! Its great that you are looking at ways to improve customer experience! Maybe other people at your feed store would be willing to learn a little more about keeping chickens, or to be honest enough to admit to a customer when they don't know what they are talking about? I would have respected them a lot more if they had just said they did know the answer to my question.

 

[Vixy]

The feed store in my town knows absolutely nothing regarding chickens health (or anything else about them really). They know that their chickens. That's about all.

 

[azygous]

Boy! Don't get me started!

The Big R chain feed store and ranch supply is the main source in my town. When they sell baby chicks, they don't even tell you what breeds they are, just that they're something called "manager's choice".

And unless one of the employees happens to have a few chickens at home, none of the employees are trained to give anything resembling "advice".

The last time I bought chicks, I didn't know they were Speckled Sussex until they're speckles started coming in.

So it would be a huge improvement if this feed store would, at least, tell their customers what breed chicks they were buying.

 

[gardendufus]

Ya might think of printing a one sheet flyer listing "a few" of the available chicken forums........BYC comes to mind. If they are new to chickens and have been living in a cave they might not know about it.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I own chickens, as my parents did before me.  And I work in a feed store and am wondering if there are supplies or advice, or information written down to aide with the interesting complexities of owning poultry....

How about a single sheet handout (probably double sided) for every customer who buys chicks.

On the sheet would be: What type of feed to use with what age of birds.

The importance of keeping the water clean and fresh.

How much space chicks need and when to expand the living area as they grow.

How much heat should be supplied and when not to use it.

The importance of keeping the litter clean.

How to recognize a coccidiosis outbreak and how to treat it (ties in with the Corrid thing)

When the chicks can go outside and how to integrate into an existing flock.

Where to go for more information starting with your local Cooperative Extension Service then maybe including some discussion boards such as BYC.

The explanations would necessarily have to be brief but I believe you could get it all on a single double sided sheet.

If you will also be selling turkeys, waterfowl, and other non-chicken poultry then a separate sheet detailing the differences in feeding and care would be good. I can say from experience that a lot of folks have no idea that turkeys and waterfowl should be fed differently than chicks. The same again if you'll be selling broiler chicks.