Tractor Supply Employee Knowledge About Chicks

[Cowgirlgrace]

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Thank you! I don't expect the kid who bags my groceries to be a nutritiionist or the guy who changes my oil to be an engineer so why would I expect a minimum wage worker in a feed store to be a poultry expert? It astounds me that people think knowing what a pullet somehow makes them superior.

Are you guys TSC employees? If I didn't know anything about chickens and walked into a TSC I wouldn't want to be sold straight run with the employee telling me they were all girls because the employee had no product knowledge. When half the chicks turned out to be boys I'd be pretty mad.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

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I was at TSC a few weeks ago when they were getting ready for chicks. The bins are usually in the store but this year they were setting them up outside under an overhang. Each bin had one heat lamp that was suspended about 3 ft above the bottom. I just cringed. With the weather we've been having, cold, windy, rainy and the bins outside I could just see those bins full of cold dead chicks in no time. Haven't been back yet. Hope they've come to their senses. Usually though, the employees are quite knowledgable. Didn't seem so this time.

 

[Moe Biscuits]

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Thanks chevgrl!

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

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Our local 'Small business' quaint little farm store I frequented and loved just sold out to Wilco/Tru Value chain store. Soooo, there you go. So much for that.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

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Thanks for saying this & no, I don't work for TSC. {Don't work at all, I'm retired]
TSC doesn't just sell chicks & ducklings. The sell feed, equipment & medication for all forms of livestock. Plumbing, electrical & welding supplies. Farm equipment & parts. Lubricants, gardening supplies, toys, clothing, footwear & lots more. To expect that the employees be knowledgeable about all this is unrealistic. Their job really is to help you find what you're looking for & then sell it to you.
Apparently it's hard for some people here to understand but not everyone cares anything about chickens beyond what's for dinner. Personally, I find the comments ridiculing TSC employees & other members of the community who lack poultry knowledge offensive. I suspect that those people have knowledge about things they are interested in that the people ridiculing them lack.

I think the point most people are trying to make is if they don't know about a product they should just say so and not give out wrong information.

 

[eastercreek]

My final comment on this thread....

I am not bashing TSC for anything other than not being able to tell me what type of chicks they were selling. Walmart can tell me what brand electronics they are selling me and even what type of fish they sell me from the pet section...Home Depot can tell me what type of wood I am buying....I just want to know the breed. This is an important question when you are talking about chickens who may not live past 12 weeks that look just like other breeds as chicks. Even the most qualified chicken person probably couldnt distinguish the breeds and the only person who can communicate the important info would be the store employee to the potential buyer. The management needs to take the responsibility of making sure when the shipment comes in that they pass on to the employees the correct info before they throw out the boxes that the chicks were shipped in. Obviously with the "assorted bantam" bin they wont be able to be specific...but when a bin of yellow birds is labeled "red pullets" and a consumer asks what breed they really are....know the answer. Dont tell them they are laying hens when they are not! I am not expecting them to tell me how to care for chicks, nor would I expect Walmart to tell me how to cook the groceries I bought from them...but if they are selling living critters...a little more responsibility is in order.

And it is not all TSC either....I was able to call another location and they at least gave me the list of the three hatcheries that TSC was allowed to buy from so I could call those hatcheries and find out which one sold birds to my store....my store could not even tell me that. Home Depot hires folks who know about the area of the store they work in...electronics, paint, lumber. Walmart has the folks that work in the grocery section, pharmacy, electronics., etc. Is it asking TSC too much to make sure that one employee on the clock at all times have knowledge in the chicken dept?

 

[FowlWthrFriend]

It seems I had the opposite experience at our farm store. We have four extended family members who keep chickens, and I had mulled over the thought for a good year. I checked out four chicken keeping books from the library and called those with chickens to ask questions. I knew everything I needed for their arrival, so on the first evening of "Chick Days" I took all four of our (very young) children to help pick out the predetermined breeds of baby chicks.

Yes, it was 45 minutes to closing time, but help was scarce; I think at least one employee rolled her eyes at my children, and made me feel as if I had no business bringing them in to buy chicks. The other girl was somewhat knowlegable and ultimately helped us find the chicks on our list. Then I was told that since we were spending more than $20 on chick supplies we could choose a chick from the front bin for free. That seemed a little strange, so I asked an older employee what breeds they were and she gave some sort of an unsatisfactory "straight-run mix" answer. The helpful girl told us they were Brahmas, Black Sex-link and another I don't remember. No sign anywhere to be seen. Since we wanted all hens, I asked which of the Sex links were the pullets--isn't that the point, so you can tell? I got the blankest stare in reply from both.

Again at the register, it was never blatant, but I was made to feel like the world's biggest chicken idiot. If they would have had their chicks clearly marked I wouldn't have had to bother them, since I'm sure I knew more about the chicks than they did. I'll try another farm store a bit more out of my way and see how that one operates before I subject myself to this again.

Anyway, just my 2¢

 

[Quinn4321]

Well I am a lucky one! I do not get my chicks from Tractor Supply but from out local feed store (Oxford Feed and Lumber). I went this week to place a special order, my first year ordering chicks from there. Their special order list was extensive, including many breeds I have been searching for on the internet! I didn't have time to look at it more, but I will defientely be ordering rare breeds from theyway re next year. This year I just got 4 different colors of silkies, Porcelain d' uccles, buff silver and gold laced sebrights. Anyway they already had chicks and were able to identify breeds ( mottled houdan, silkie, RIR, Appenzeller, Sultan, etc)
Very happy with them, highly recommended if you are in my area. They also have pheasants, turkeys, ducks, guinea fowl and maybe chukars if you get their special order list.
Just shows that some stores do take the time to educate their employees.

 

[bsee4u]

Strange, must be local management because the one I went to this past Saturday had Pullets - White Legorns, and another bin with Straight Run - Cornish X's. By the way, I am in Bowling Green Ky. I never realized a national brand store would be so different territorially. This one here kind of left nothing to the imagination.

 

[NYRIR]

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No ,you're right, they aren't all bad! I just wish there were more like you,that actually care what happens to the chicks and ducklings.Like so many others on here have talked about,they should at least know the breeds and what they're mainly used for.
Good job!