PoultryTalk.com

Our topic follows new member fereday's post regarding this issue. We felt it highlighted several topics which we feel some members may have strong views on so have selected it.

What are your views on Garden Centres & Pet stores now including chickens and poultry into their 'everyday' pet range with some selling birds as well?


Some points to consider:

Its an interesting one. I've visited three local garden centres (two dobbies, one independent) and wasn't overly impressed with the set up at any of them.

The first Dobbies store I visited about 3 days after the chickens arrived. They were outside on grass in a pen with a fence about 4ft high, and close by were lots of lovely tender bedding plants and veg plants. I spoke to an assistant who admitted that he's spent every afternoon rounding them back up and binning the trashed plants......next time we went in they had put another 2ft on top of the fence.

The second Dobbies store was much worse. They had simply laid turf on top of paving stones and it was looking bare after only a week or so. A pallet of feed was left outside under a plastic sheet and was getting wet, but still offered for sale. Also a sign saying 'young chicks and ducklings available soon.....'.

The prices are high, but as far as a 'pet' purchase goes, people are prepared to pay the price and they like the environment and convenience of picking them out at the garden centre.

No-one seems to know anything at any of the stores about chickens or chicken keeping. But I wonder if they know much about rabbits, reptiles or fish either - and they've been selling these for years. Perhaps the customers don't care though. Personally I prefer to make any type of purchase from someone that knows something about what they're selling.

The range of poultry related items for sale is mixed. They do a lot of the Net Tex range of healthcare products, which are pretty good. But then they are selling the cheapest feeders & drinkers, and the type of feeder that allows no air flow inside, so the pellets clog up (as evidenced in their pens!). Their range of feed is limited and some was even out of date. The housing was all imported flat-pack. Its cheap, but after three weeks or so it was starting to buckle a bit. The imported ranges vary wildly from one company to another (same design, different materials & fixings), and I think they could do better than the range they're stocking.

Now, they may improve as time goes on, or they may give up. I'll be popping in to my local stores regularly though to see how it goes. Mostly I think they have become a bit of an attraction (more petting zoo than pet store perhaps). One plus side - it introduces more people to the idea of keeping chickens, and if they get anywhere near as much pleasure from it as I do then that has to be good.

Interested to hear what other people think.

I have been working with pet shops all my life..the staff do generally have enough experience on small pets but I don,t personally think that chickens in a pet shop mix well with the other pets and birds, especially if lots of other birds/parrots are kept due to cross contamination of flu like problems..would be better if poultry were to be kept on their own.. I now keep and breed chickens as a hobby and wouldn,t really like to buy from pet shops ..I don,t think staff have enough experience in poultry keeping to advice the general public.

Hello All. No I don't think it is a good idea to sell chicken in pet shops, for the reason someone pointed out- cross contamination. Also chicken are farm animals and under all sorts of reg's aren't they? I know most hobbiests don't vaccinate etc, (I don't) but surely in a place as accessible to the public as a pet shop they should be fully vaccinated and certificated? While I would like to see chickens become more popular as pets, and having them in pet shops would do this, I am worried about possible outbreaks of the really bad diseases. IF pet shops are only allowed to sell vaccinated stock then, yes I am all for it. If not, then no.

Its an interesting one. I've visited three local garden centres (two dobbies, one independent) and wasn't overly impressed with the set up at any of them.

The first Dobbies store I visited about 3 days after the chickens arrived. They were outside on grass in a pen with a fence about 4ft high, and close by were lots of lovely tender bedding plants and veg plants. I spoke to an assistant who admitted that he's spent every afternoon rounding them back up and binning the trashed plants......next time we went in they had put another 2ft on top of the fence.

The second Dobbies store was much worse. They had simply laid turf on top of paving stones and it was looking bare after only a week or so. A pallet of feed was left outside under a plastic sheet and was getting wet, but still offered for sale. Also a sign saying 'young chicks and ducklings available soon.....'.

The prices are high, but as far as a 'pet' purchase goes, people are prepared to pay the price and they like the environment and convenience of picking them out at the garden centre.

No-one seems to know anything at any of the stores about chickens or chicken keeping. But I wonder if they know much about rabbits, reptiles or fish either - and they've been selling these for years. Perhaps the customers don't care though. Personally I prefer to make any type of purchase from someone that knows something about what they're selling.

The range of poultry related items for sale is mixed. They do a lot of the Net Tex range of healthcare products, which are pretty good. But then they are selling the cheapest feeders & drinkers, and the type of feeder that allows no air flow inside, so the pellets clog up (as evidenced in their pens!). Their range of feed is limited and some was even out of date. The housing was all imported flat-pack. Its cheap, but after three weeks or so it was starting to buckle a bit. The imported ranges vary wildly from one company to another (same design, different materials & fixings), and I think they could do better than the range they're stocking.

Now, they may improve as time goes on, or they may give up. I'll be popping in to my local stores regularly though to see how it goes. Mostly I think they have become a bit of an attraction (more petting zoo than pet store perhaps). One plus side - it introduces more people to the idea of keeping chickens, and if they get anywhere near as much pleasure from it as I do then that has to be good.

Interested to hear what other people think.

There are a lot of pet stores and garden centres that stock chicken feed and feeders etc. Also there are more garden centres stocking coups and other items. I have seen at a garden centre pet department in Solihull chicks and they were £35 + each......nice if you can get it!!! I network with my local pet shops and garden centres to sell my rabbits and also they know I sell chickens and chicks too. Would be good if they could network with us chicken nuts to pass our details on if people are looking for good breeders to buy from.