# Feed store rant!



## Thewife (Aug 9, 2009)

So, Hubby called around this morning to find the fencing we need.
He finally made a deal with one feed store, but the guy said he only had some of the posts we needed, so we would have to wait til he got more in or pick some up from one of their other stores. No biggie, another store was on the way home!

So, we pull into the 2nd store to get the rest of OUR posts, and sat and watched one of the guys load a bunch of posts onto the fork lift and drive away, only to return empty.

Inside, the girl told us she only had 100 of the posts we needed?
She told us we could go pick up the rest of the posts Wednsday from the store we bought them from?

After they guys loaded the 100 posts, Hubby asked them about the ones we watched them load up and hide?
The guy confessed, they had OUR posts and that this store and the other one were basically at war? 

So we went back in!
The girl was on the phone, hung up and headed out the wherehouse, we waited a minute and then went looking for her! When we stepped out, the guys were loading the forklift and then put the rest of OUR posts in our truck?
We are thinking one of the loading guys called her to tell her why we were on our way back in?
Hubby in his own nice way, read her the riot act! Seems the store manager told her to hide the posts and only give us 100? Something about they didn't want to empty THEIR store inventory?

The second store is the one I usually send the boys to for my supplies and bird feed! 
Good thing there is another feed store just down the road from them!


----------



## lupinfarm (Aug 9, 2009)

Ughhh, I hate when that stuff happens. We went to our TSC in Belleville a few months ago to buy an 8 ft gate for our corral, bought the gate, went out to get it loaded and get this.. THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY. I was so mad, especially since I wasted all that time and in the meantime the only other local store that sold gates had closed! In the end we went the next morning to the other store and bought our gate there.


----------



## Thewife (Aug 10, 2009)

This feed store has finally burned it's bridges!

I lived through waking up to a bag of horse grain instead of the chicken food I needed!
I worked around the fact they only seem to sell cheap milk replacer!
I have grown to accept the fact they really don't have anything for cows!
But to be lied too, that just ######## me off!


----------



## lupinfarm (Aug 10, 2009)

Ack! ... What really bothers me about our proper feed mill is that none of them sell any horse or chicken supplies, and forget about goats unless you want to buy milk replacer. 

I'm so sick and tired of going to the feed mill and having to order the thing I need urgently and never having the feed mill get back to me because I'm not a farmer and just a hobby farm. It seems that the feed mills here are really biased in their sales and assisting of customers. They would jump at helping a farmer, but if you had 2 goats and a horse they'd skirt around your question and never answer. 

I have to drive an hour to get any real horse supplies aside from feed.


----------



## lupinfarm (Aug 10, 2009)

AND WHY ARE FEED STORES NOT OPEN ON SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. Just because it's a sunday or holiday doesn't mean the world just STOPS.


----------



## ksalvagno (Aug 10, 2009)

The feed stores around me all carry goat and chicken feed but not alpaca feed. I actually buy my alpaca feed from another alpaca farm. Of course they all have bankers hours and if you work full time your only option for getting feed would be Saturday morning.

Whether feed stores are at war or not, one would think that the purpose of the store is to sell things. I would think that second store would have been very happy to sell a bunch of posts to make money. It is my understanding that they get new shipments in on a regular basis.


----------



## Bronco Hollow (Aug 10, 2009)

I'd be calling the main store and talking with the owner.  That is just downright irresponsible and I can't imagine that any owner would allow such behavior.


----------



## mully (Aug 10, 2009)

Bronco Hollow said:
			
		

> I'd be calling the main store and talking with the owner.  That is just downright irresponsible and I can't imagine that any owner would allow such behavior.


I agree ...call the owner and explain why he will not get any more of your business ... Times as tough as they are I know it won't sit lightly with him


----------



## Thewife (Aug 10, 2009)

The store is a company owned chain store.
Hubby says he will be calling them.
Gonna let him cool down a little before I give him the number!
I also picked up a paper off their counter!
It says "Talk to us" "We want to hear from you"
They are gonna hear from us!


----------



## Cara (Aug 11, 2009)

lupinfarm said:
			
		

> AND WHY ARE FEED STORES NOT OPEN ON SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. Just because it's a sunday or holiday doesn't mean the world just STOPS.


Perhaps because the people who work there/own them might like a day off to go to church?


----------



## lupinfarm (Aug 11, 2009)

Cara said:
			
		

> lupinfarm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Many of the farmers go to church and still work, We don't go to church and we aren't religious but just because church is at 11am doesn't stop a store opening for a few hours. I know almont every farmer and horse owner around here would certainly come and shop if they were open from even 2-5 on a Sunday, or shock, maybe if they were open on a weekday later than 4pm, that I don't get... Many people work day jobs, even farmers, so how can they get to the feed store if it closes at 4pm every day?


----------



## cmjust0 (Sep 3, 2009)

I know this is an old thread and all, but I have to chime in..  

I struggled to buy several cattle panels at TSC one day, though the clerk didn't know her butt from a hole in the ground.  I had to walk her through it..."Pick up that binder.  Yeah, that binder..  Now, flip to the page that says.........."  

Anyway, after all that, I went to the "side lot" or whatever they call it and...no panels.  The guy said they were a "Manager's Special" the week before, and they'd sold out.

I asked when more were coming...no clue.  

I asked why a manager would discount something as popular as cattle panels when they had no way of knowing when they were going to get their next shipment....again, no idea, but this time mixed with a sort of lethargic apathy.

I said "Ya know...this would be a really good place for a farm store."

Crickets chirped...a tumbleweed rolled between us...crickets chirped some more...

He kinda cocked his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows a little, not unlike a dog when it hears another dog bark on television.

Nevermind...back inside I go, to get a refund.  The line, of course, is backed up to the point that it's snaking out into the cowgirl bling section, AKA "western wear."

When I finally get to the register and explain the situation to the clerk, she goes OOOOOH that's right....oops....yeah, they're out of those.  Well, gee, glad you remembered that or it could have been a real PITA.....oh....wait..

She looks at me and asks, with a creepily odd sincerity, "Are you mad?"  I said "Uhhh, well, at this point, I'm not really even _surprised_."  

She smiled an oddly sincere smile that appeared to indicate something like misplaced relief that I wasn't angry.  Daddy issues, I suppose.

When all was said and done, I went out to the parking lot, had what I'm pretty sure was a mild but strangely satisfying stroke, then drove away.

The end.


----------



## lupinfarm (Sep 3, 2009)

HAH CM, I loved that...


Sigh, my TSC is useless, and like yours you often go out to the side lot to find that what you have just bought is out of stock. 

The biggest thing that bothers me is that no one knows what the hell they are talking about, and yet, they won't hire me? Someone who has years of experience? ...Another thing, they LIE to me all the time!! I went into buy those hinges for the tubular steel farm gates (you know, the ones you get with the gate?) well, they sell them seperately too (at least they did?), I bought 2 around January and went in to buy 2 more today... "Sorry we don't carry those, try Home Depot" 

WHAT? And anyway, Home Depot carries something similar for chainlink, but it attaches at one side to the round pole of the chain link and I was specifically looking for the kind that attaches to the hinge pegs for farm gates....


----------



## Aped (Sep 3, 2009)

I absolutely hate TSC! But I still go there for their chicken food because it's cheaper than the other feed store and easier to get to. But they have nothing in the way of goats. They actually have no complete line of stuff for any one animal as far as I can tell. I tried to buy a kennel from them once and I asked if I could have it delivered and they said they don't deliver although there is a guy that does do deliveries for a us for a fee but he isn't here. So they lost business for that. And half the time I go in there they aren't even stocked so I have to come back another day. I never knew you could run a store with a whole lot of nothing.


----------



## cmjust0 (Sep 4, 2009)

Ya know how we all complain about the other feed and farm stores keeping short hours and being closed on weekends?

Yeah, well..  In my not-so-humble opinion, that's the only reason why such an abomination as Tractor Supply Company even exists.  

That's not to say the other feed and farm stores are necessarily better (though they usually are by virtue of the simple fact that they could hardly be worse), it's just that when you know you need to pick up t-post insulators on your way home from work at 5:30pm so you can get a little further on your fence project....TSC is pretty much your only option.

I've seriously considered trying to get a few other goat people together to open a bricks-n-mortar goat store in my town.  Match TSC on hours, but carry only goat stuff....even off label goat stuff...and only hire people who actually own goats.  Kentucky is the second most goat-populous state in the nation (I think, anyway...there are LOTS of goats either way), so I'm almost certain it would do OK..

Ahhhh, pipe dreams...


----------



## noobiechickenlady (Sep 4, 2009)

Gotta play the devil's advocate here. Of course, I'm talking about a small town, locally owned, neighbor-run, family business thats been around since the 20s. Gotta be doing something right, huh?
Its on my way home from work, they stock locally grown grain products that are cheaper & fresher by far than the "other" stores, they have a good variety of products (goats, emu, alpaca, cow, horse) plus a miscellany of other stuff. Bagged compost, plants, you get the picture.
The absolute BEST part about their store? You can walk in, ask a question or six and leave without buying anything. If you need something ordered, its there and you are called within a week (usually less than that) They will TELL you if someone else has the same thing for cheaper than they can get it. They don't call me crazy for feeding whole grains to my chickens. They pass along messages from person to person (So and so is looking for a Dexter 3 in 1, would you give em a call?)
And when I walk in I get greeted by name. Since the second time I stepped foot in the store.
I avoid the "other" feed store at all costs now.


----------



## Kooshie (Sep 10, 2009)

I think it would be better to order more when someone asks than to steal yours!  Maybe it's just me but that seems kind of silly, taking your things to sell to someone else.  Very rude.


----------



## his1911 (Jun 3, 2011)

TSC just like any other feed store really depends on its management staff. Our local store manager is a farmer ( well at least an actively involved farmers wife) so she has some idea what farmer's need or want. She is limited somewhat by corporate as to some things she can or can't carry but she does a pretty good job of keeping those things in stock ( sometimes she even wins against corporate) As an example she fought long and hard to get them to let her stock sulfur range blocks for cattle, they said there'd be no demand. She was allowed to stock a pallet ( I seen it come of the truck on a forklift and called her) when i walked in the front of the store there were already three other cowmen wanting to buy blocks, we all four wanted the same thing, AN ENTIRE pallet of sulfur blocks!!!

Some stores are good and worth doing business with, I reward those by shopping there, others don't deserve the help and I don't visit those!


----------



## julieq (Jun 3, 2011)

I guess we're really fortunate as our local feed store is great.  They messed up on delivering some compressed hay recently and actually admitted the fact that they messed up!  They delivered the rest of the hay today and were just as kind as ever.


----------



## Back to Nature (Feb 3, 2013)

I once asked if I could handle some of a farm supply company's chicks, because at the time I had land and was considering a couple. They said no. If they don't want me handling the animals, which were technically merchandise, then they're obviously hiding something.


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos (Feb 3, 2013)

No they aren't. They are keeping them clean of disease. It's great practice and very good bio-security.


----------



## Back to Nature (Feb 4, 2013)

And as bio-security to my farm, if I buy an animal, I WILL look at it for disease first. If they don't like that, then I'll shop somewhere else. I would understand if they had me wash my hands first or offered to show it to me, but they did neither, so..


----------



## Southern by choice (Feb 4, 2013)

I run a bio-secure poultry farm...by ME letting YOU handle my chicks I have possibly exposed my chicks to a serious poultry illness. NO-ONE handles my poultry...EVER! 

You cannot "see" CRD's yet they are passed along on your hands, hair, clothes, shoes etc. 

Are you at all familiar with poultry illnesses? Most are not evident...they are often dormant and are triggered by an event. 

I do hold up my birds so that feet, toes beaks, butts etc can be seen by the buyer. My customers appreciate that I have a farm that practices such intense bio-security.

A few years back after a long quarantine  I put some birds in with my flock... short end of the matter is the new birds were carriers of MG and I had an outbreak.. I had to KILL 200+/- birds. My farm was quarantined til all MG was eradicated. 

Set me back $3000 with total loss approx $5000. Had to start all over with expensive hatching eggs treat with special egg "dip" to eradicate any carriers in the hatching eggs then grow them back up wait til they were old enough to breed out. That is a *BIG* loss.

So... one person being offended... oh well... that just means they have no clue of the seriousness of bio-security. When I share with my customers the "whys" of our practices they usually ask for more info on keeping a healthy flock and generally appreciate it.


----------



## PendergrassRanch (Feb 4, 2013)

Wow I would be so mad!  Thankfully our feed store in town is awesome and family owned.  What a bunch of baloney!


----------



## CocoNUT (Feb 4, 2013)

I have to agree. We have all kinds at both our local TSCs AND the feed store. Fortunately, i go frequently enough, that I know WHO to ask questions to and who to avoid! When we had JUST gotten Snuggles, I took her with me to one of our local TSCs. One of the ladies there (also  a bus driver in our area) gave me all kinds of information on what to have, feed, do etc. Turns out she also runs a sheep (meat) farm!Another girl who works at another TSC is so AWESOME! She'll do whatever she can to help you out, is alway nice, and remembers us everytime we go! 

At our local feed stores, one of them, the people are really nice and helpful. Know me by name. The other...they're helpful and nice (their customers are a little more territorial about THEIR store...if they don't KNOW you....). They each have their own benefits...and drawbacks. Just wish our local feed store had longer weekend hours!


----------



## Pearce Pastures (Feb 4, 2013)

Absolutely, they cannot and should not take that kind of risk in letting people handle poultry they are selling.  Even with washed hands.  I would be highly upset to learn that, if I were to buy our birds from a place like TSC, that they had allowed the birds to be touched and handled by random people before selling them to me, creating the possibility for sickness and disease to come onto my property.


----------



## Southern by choice (Feb 4, 2013)

Our local feed store...not a TSC.... changed their whole set up and policy after we shared what had happened to us. They were devastated for us too.  They no longer let anyone touch the chicks.

Our local TSC began the NO-handle policy last year too. They have panels all around the brooders so that no one can get to them.


----------



## Back to Nature (Feb 6, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> I run a bio-secure poultry farm...by ME letting YOU handle my chicks I have possibly exposed my chicks to a serious poultry illness. NO-ONE handles my poultry...EVER!
> 
> You cannot "see" CRD's yet they are passed along on your hands, hair, clothes, shoes etc.
> 
> ...


I don't think you read the part where I said "or offered to show it to me" before you got all offended.


----------



## Southern by choice (Feb 6, 2013)

Back to Nature said:
			
		

> Southern by choice said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wasn't offended at all.  Sorry if it came across that way. I was trying to show a broader picture, and yes they could have held up the chicks for you. It is more about the way diseases are transferred and that most poultry diseases cannot be seen.  Maybe you are not this way but I have seen too many times people get really angry about not being able to handle the chicks at the feed stores and really it is the establishment trying to make sure the birds are not getting "contaminated". There is also an issue of salmonella, a hatchery that ships all over the US had a huge public notice announcement when people, in I think it was 26 states, had gotten sick from handling their ducks, all at feed stores.  

Most chicken fanciers really don't know much about poultry illnesses. Just look at how many "swaps" occur all the time, then people wonder why they have sick chickens and marecks and CRD's.


----------



## Dino (Feb 6, 2013)

noobiechickenlady said:
			
		

> Gotta play the devil's advocate here. Of course, I'm talking about a small town, locally owned, neighbor-run, family business thats been around since the 20s. Gotta be doing something right, huh?
> Its on my way home from work, they stock locally grown grain products that are cheaper & fresher by far than the "other" stores, they have a good variety of products (goats, emu, alpaca, cow, horse) plus a miscellany of other stuff. Bagged compost, plants, you get the picture.
> The absolute BEST part about their store? You can walk in, ask a question or six and leave without buying anything. If you need something ordered, its there and you are called within a week (usually less than that) They will TELL you if someone else has the same thing for cheaper than they can get it. They don't call me crazy for feeding whole grains to my chickens. They pass along messages from person to person (So and so is looking for a Dexter 3 in 1, would you give em a call?)
> And when I walk in I get greeted by name. Since the second time I stepped foot in the store.
> I avoid the "other" feed store at all costs now.


+1!  Love our home grown "feed mills" aka elevators.  They have it or can and will get it.  They know you by name and how you like your feed mixed.


----------



## Back to Nature (Feb 6, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Back to Nature said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I plan on quarantining all new animals I have, and I can understand why people won't want everyone and their uncle touching the animals. But at the very least they could have held it up so I could make sure they don't have any parasites under the wings or similar hidden issues.

I do think it's stupid when people freak out because they can't play with the chicks. Chicks are cute, but they aren't toys, even if you're certain neither the bird nor human has a disease. But they should allow prospective buyers to look.

Several years later I don't have land, but hopefully I'll get some soon. Maybe I can find a BYH-er in Michigan to buy stock from!


----------

