Buying chicks from your local Tractor Supply is convenient, but is it a good place to get healthy, well-bred chickens?
Customer acounts are mixed, suggesting buying baby chicks from Tractor Supply can be a positive experience, but —like any avenue for purchasing poultry — italso comes with potential pitfalls.
Whether or not Tractor Supply is the right place to source your baby chicks may depend on your expectations, and what your goals are for your flock.
In the spirit of buyer beware, this article answers common questions and explores what you should know before attending one of TSC’s “chick days”.
What Breeds Of Chicken Does Tractor Supply Sell?
The full list of chicken breeds available at Tractor Supply extends to some 70 varieties including a number of unexpected finds.
Of course TSC has meat birds like Cornish Cross broilers and common commercial hybrid layers like Production Reds and ISA Browns.
But it also stock Easter eggers for those seeking a rainbow basket, sex links like Golden Comets and even heritage and rare breeds including Blue Andalusians, Appenzeller Spitzhaubens and the speckled brown egg laying Welsummers.
If your store doesn’t have a particular breed that’s on your wish list, it’s possible to place a special order.
As well as chickens, Tractor Supply Co. also sells other poultry including:
- Ducks
- Turkeys
- Geese
- Pheasants
- Quail
- Guinea Fowl
Which Hatchery Does Tractor Supply Use?
When you place an online order, Tractor Supply sources chicks from the Iowa-based Hoover’s Hatchery.
At “chick days” in-store, the baby chicks come from:
- Hoover’s Hatchery
- Privett Hatchery in New Mexico
- Townline, in Michigan
Can You Buy Marans At Tractor Supply?
Tractor Supply sells several varieties of Marans including:
- Black copper
- Cuckoo
- Wheaten
TSC also advertises a “Midnight Majesty” variety which it calls a Marans but describes as a hybrid with plumage that’s a mix of dark brown and black.
Can You Buy Cream Legbars At Tractor Supply?
Blue egg laying Cream Legbars are available through Tractor Supply.
At $119.99 for the minimum order of 10 baby chicks when purchased online, they’re one of TSC’s priciest chickens.
That’s $12 per chick.
The upside is that, being an autosexing breed, buying sexed chicks is much more likely to reliably get you all females.
There can still be an oops factor, as less well-bred cream legbars can lose their autosexing trait and be much more difficult to accurately sex at hatch.
Does Tractor Supply Sell Ameraucanas?
Rookie error alert..
Tractor Supply sells “Americanas”, a curious and confusing spelling that of course conjures up the Ameraucana.
Ameraucanas are a pure breed prized for their blue eggs and recognizable by their fluffy cheeks called muffs.
Tractor Supply’s Americanas, on the other hand, are a crossbreed that is said to have Ameraucana in the mix, but is itself a mutt chicken.
More accurately described as Easter eggers, you can expect TSC Americanas to lay anything from blue to green to light brown.
How Much Are Chicks At Tractor Supply?
The price of chicks at Tractor Supply varies depending on breed.
A sample of ballpark prices for some popular breeds include:
- Cornish cross broilers, about $3 each
- Rhode Island Reds, about $4
- Plymouth Rocks are $5.50
Unsexed or “straight run” chicks that will include males are cheaper than sexed females.
Heritage breeds are more expensive, priced to reflect their rarer status.
Online, the more you buy, the better the price.
You can also buy mixed boxes containing an assortment of different breeds.
What Is The Chick Minimum At Tractor Supply?
If purchasing in-store, the chick minimum at Tractor Supply is four.
It used to be six but was lowered.
When ordering shipped chicks online, the minimum is 10 chicks and the listed price is for the batch of 10.
Are Tractor Supply Chicks Healthy?
As with any animal (or human!), how healthy a Tractor Supply chick is depends on a variety of factors.
Health and vigor is a complex equation factoring in everything from genetics and parental nutrition to how well the chick has been cared for since hatching.
Buying from a store introduces an extra variable on top of those you’re dealing with when buying direct from a hatchery.
Basic things that can have a negative impact on baby chicks include:
- Periods without heat, or overheating
- Overcrowding
- Lack of clean drinking water
- Poor quality food
- Overly dirty living conditions
- Poor air quality (Chicken respiratory systems are sensitive, including to ammonia fumes from manure build-up)
- Stress
- Rough handling
Are Tractor Supply Chicks Good Quality?
Whether TSC chicks are “good quality” depends on what your goals are for your flock.
Do you want the chickens as pets, broilers or to lay eggs for you and your family …or are you looking for something more?
Questions to ask yourself include:
- Are you wanting genuinely show quality birds?
- Do you intend to breed from the birds?
- Is the ancestry and gene pool of the birds important to you?
- Will you be disappointed if you breed the birds together and the offspring aren’t uniform and consistent in their appearance and traits?
- Do you expect birds that have been rigorously bred to meet breed standards as laid out by the American Poultry Association?
- Do you care if the chicks grow up to show defects and physical attributes that are technically faults insofar as what birds of this breed are meant to look like?
If you’re answering yes to these questions, you may be happier finding a reputable breeder specializing in your chosen variety.
Are Tractor Supply Chicks Vaccinated?
Chicks purchased at feed stores are typically unvaccinated, so that customers have the option to raise them organically.
To be sure, confirm directly with Tractor Supply as policies change.
Hoover’s Hatchery does provide Marek’s and Cocci vaccinations as an option to customers, but only if requested.
Are Tractor Supply Chicks Sexed?
Tractor Supply allows you to order either female or unsexed chicks.
Hoover’s Hatchery promises 90 per cent accuracy on all its sexed birds.
You’d hope this same degree of certainty is what you could expect from the birds they supply through TSC.
What Happens If Your Tractor Supply Chicks Die?
Sometimes chicks don’t make it, even with all the best care.
Do your best to select specific chicks that seem healthy and vigorous.
Monitor their condition and let the store know immediately if there’s a problem.
In the interests of good customer service, management is likely to agree to a refund or a replacement chick if you lose one very soon after purchase.
As a guide, when dealing direct with Hoover’s, the hatchery refunds or replaces baby chicks that die —as long as the loss is reported within a 48 hour guarantee period.
How Old Are Chicks At Tractor Supply?
The baby chicks for sale in your local Tractor Supply are probably more like a week old than one day old.
Their age will depend on how long shipping took and how long they’ve been on display in-store.
TSC describes them as “days-old”.
What Day Does Tractor Supply Get Chicks?
Tractor Supply receives regular deliveries of baby chicks throughout spring.
Shipping dates differ between stores.
It’s best to contact your local TSC to find out which days chicks arrive.
This way, you can time your visit to provide maximum choice and to minimize how long the chicks spend at the shop before entering your care.
Can You Buy Tractor Supply Chicks Online?
You can order baby chicks online via the Tractor Supply website in batches of ten.
Does Tractor Supply Ship Baby Chicks?
Tractor Supply ships chicks ordered online.
Mail order chicks require collection, shipping to your local post office, not your home address.
Can You Pre Order Chicks From Tractor Supply?
It’s possible to order chicks online and then pick them up in-store.
You can also place a special order for specific breeds.
Tractor Supply Vs Hoover’s Hatchery
Ordering direct from Hoover’s Hatchery takes out the middle man.
First there are the practicalities.
Hoover’s sets different minimum order quantities to Tractor Supply, for instance and has its own guarantees and replacement policies.
Perhaps the main difference in going direct to Hoover’s is you’ll be receiving your chicks straight from the hatchery, which may be preferable.
TSC chicks will have passed through more hands and spent time in the store brooder box, with a quality of care and attention that can vary with the staff.
Much may depend on your local store and how well you know the folks that work there and the kind of care the chicks will receive.
Accidents happen and by buying from TSC you’re introducing an extra opportunity for error.
Chicks can catch a chill from a poorly positioned heat plate or get put in the wrong bin, leading to unexpected surprises for buyers as the chicks mature.
On the upside, you know the chicks at Tractor Supply have survived the journey, whereas receiving chicks direct may involve losses in transit.
Other Places To Buy Baby Chicks Instead Of Tractor Supply
If you decide Tractor Supply or another farm supply store isn’t the right choice for you, other ways to get baby chicks include:
- Hatcheries
- Breeders
- Other hobbyist chicken keepers
- Hatching shipped fertile eggs or locally collected ones at home
Here is a comparison of the pros and cons of hatching eggs versus buying day-old chicks.
Whether to buy from a large commercial hatchery versus a small breeder may depend on how much you care whether the chickens are bred to standard.
Yet another option is to buy “started” or “point of lay” pullets or even older hens.
🐓See all articles on Where to Buy Hatching Eggs
Baby Chicks Vs Started Pullets
Advantages of buying older birds instead of baby chicks include:
- Less work to raise the chick to maturity
- Less equipment required i.e. no need for brooder boxes and heat plates
- No waiting for eggs
- No (or less) chance of unwanted roosters as gender will be much more obvious
- If the bird is already laying you can see the exact shade of its egg color including how dark or how blue etc (If colored eggs are important to you)
- Ability to assess whether the bird has been bred to standard, based on its appearance
Conclusion
If you’re just starting your backyard flock and are happy with hatchery quality chicks, buying from your local Tractor Supply may be just the ticket.
The price points are good, there’s a surprising array of breeds available —especially if you preorder —and it’s convenient.
An inspection of the store brooder and how well the chicks are being cared for may be helpful before deciding whether to source your baby chicks from TSC or elsewhere.
Good luck and enjoy your feathered friends!
