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Tractor Supply Strikes Again

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JohnyMac:
I have been hearing amongst local small time chicken farmers that Tractor Supply chicken feed has less protein then what they advertise. I have been hearing this since August-ish. I didn't pay it any mind as I buy my chicken feed from Agway or other locally owned feed stores.

Well, the local rumor is blossoming to not just local chit chat. Here is a video from a YT channel that I check out every so often.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DikIMopuMA&t=602s

Jackalope:
    The guy is full of crap.  Sometimes there are natural reasons why egg production diminishes, not everything is a conspiracy.  I've been raising chickens over 40 years.  Every winter, egg production diminishes.  There are several reasons for it, shorter days, more of the chicken metabolism is devoted to keeping them warm, and age is also a factor.  We use lights to mitigate the short days and it does help.  But during the winter, egg production drops, that's a fact, it's not because the protein, or other nutrient ratio has changed in their feed.

    We allow our chickens to free range during the day, which supplements their feed.  We also give them table scraps, and meal worms, as special treats.  People raising chickens need to use common sense.  Folks need to choose breeds with good egg production, but they also need to realize there's a sweet spot as to when a chicken produces an egg almost daily. After a couple of years, egg production drops off markedly, and that chicken is now ready to be converted to soup or dog food.

     I get tired of various youtubers making outlandish statements or doing stupid things to boost their viewer numbers.

JohnyMac:
Jackalope, he mentioned in his vieo several times that egg production is reduced during the winter months.

I have been hearing this 1:1 from local small time hobbyist egg producers since August. The hobbyist were commenting that it was due to availability of certain grains not a conspiracy. It is economics not  :tinfoil:.

It really does not affect me, as I do not buy anything from TS that I do not have too. I typically buy farm type products from local mom & pop venders. Yes, they are expensive however, I want them to stay open.  ;)

The only thing we buy from TS on a regular basis is dog & cat food. Specifically, Blue Buffalo and 4Heath. Oh yeah and balls for W3OOF...LOL. 

As a totally different thread, the chix I purchased in the beginning of August are laying now. I get 6-8 eggs from the 15-girls a day.  :dancingBanana:

Peace be with all... :thumbsUp:

pkveazey:
Bwahaha...... I suppose I'm as much of a conspiracy theorist as the next guy, but the chicken and eggs thing cracked me up. No pun intended. I grew up on a farm and had to gather eggs every afternoon. Yep, there were fewer eggs in the Winter. You can hang a half a dozen reasons on it. I always figured it was because the chickens didn't want to have baby chicks in the freezing cold because then the chickens would have to spend 90% of their time sitting on the chicks to keep them from freezing to death. Yea, chickens are dumb but they're not totally stupid. :popcorn:

Jackalope:
    It's interesting how rumors reproduce, like a virus.  I have heard the same rumor locally, from people that should know better.  The only thing I purchase from Tractor Supply is fencing materials, so I really don't have a dog in this fight either.  But I've seen the rumor expounded upon by folks that don't have experience with poultry or their feed, and the rumor mutates as it expands.

    I don't see businesses like Tractor Supply screwing with their feed, for lots of reasons.  Feed is a big part of their bottom line, and if they piss off poultry owners, they're going to lose a large chunk of business, and poultry owners can be touchy about their livestock/pets.  I don't think they'd like to attract attention from the USDA either.  Again, I think rumors like this start because the chickens don't produce as well as some newbie poultry owners expect, and they attribute the diminished production to feed.

    I've had some bad luck with my latest batch of hens, as one chick died the first night we had them, which isn't totally unexpected.  However, we lost two more over the past couple of months to a hawk, which is unusual.  Fortunately, that hawk succumbed due to the attack of another predator, so the flock has a temporary reprieve. I think we'll double our Spring order of chicks to compensate for losses.

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