April 2003

Chick Days Rule the Roost

Spring is a special time of year at Bristol Co-op, the Southern States retailer in Bristol, Va. That’s when store manager Richard Blessing posts a billboard announcement to tell customers he’s taking orders for the store’s annual Chick Days event.

“We sponsor Chick Days each year to partner with customers who want some baby chicks to raise as broilers or laying hens,” he explains. “It has been a huge success. Last year we delivered more than 3,000 chicks to more than 100 customers.”

Bristol Co-op is one of many Southern States retailers that sponsor Chick Days. The co-op works with a certified commercial breeder and hatchery in Harrisonburg, Va. The hatchery ships the chicks directly to the store for delivery to customers.

Under the promotion, you can receive 25 chicks free for each bag of chick starter you order. Because the promotion targets people who aren’t in the business of raising chickens commercially, Blessing limits orders to no more than 100 baby chicks. He says most customers order just 25 chicks, for either broilers or layers.

“We have a variety of customers who participate in the program,” he notes. “Some are commercial farmers who want to raise a few broilers on the side for their freezer, while others are rural landowners or hobby farmers who work in town and just want to raise a few chickens for eggs or to eat.”

Alice Hunsucker received 50 chicks through the promotion last year. “We raised most of them as broilers but kept a few as laying hens,” she says.

When she learned about the Southern States promotion, she decided to start raising a few layers on the family’s small acreage outside of Bristol, just across the state line in Tennessee. “This is a great program,” she says. “I bought two bags of Chick Start-N-Grow medicated feed and got the chicks free.

After raising them, I kept 12 layers and gave another five hens to my mother.”

Getting started in the enterprise meant equipping her henhouse with feeders and waterers for the flock. “We bought everything from Southern States,” she notes. “My husband [David] and I have been customers for more than 25 years.”

The promotion is a win-win situation for the customers and for Southern States. “Customers get free chicks to get them started,” Blessing notes. Often, he and his staff help them set up for their poultry enterprise with waterers, cages and supplies. And, of course, Blessing hopes they come back to the store when they need more feed.

“We buy chicken feed from Richard, as well as most feed, medicine and supplies for our horses,” Hunsucker reports. “We’ve been real happy with Southern States’ products and services.”

For more information on a Chick Days promotion near you, contact your Southern States retailer.