Looking for live chickens or feed? Try this new store in downtown Turlock
Erik Rosales has brought the country to the city, roosters and all, with his new store in downtown Turlock.
He opened Elite Farm Supply, which sells live poultry, pets, feed and other items at 225 Lander Ave. Such ventures tend to be in rural locations, but Rosales decided on the heart of town because a friend owns a building that had a vacancy.
Elite does not sell dogs or cats, but it does offer smaller pets such as hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, parakeets and cockatiels. It also has pet food and accessories and feed for horses, goats and other livestock.
The store’s specialty is poultry, such as the rooster that crowed repeatedly from a sidewalk cage when the Modesto Bee paid a visit. That habit means limits on keeping these birds in and near cities, but Elite also offers quieter hens for egg or meat production. Homing pigeons, too, and a type of quail that lays eggs for human consumption.
“I think people want to know where their food comes from,” Rosales said.
His extended family has had another store, Rosales Feed & Supply, in southwest Ceres since 2012.
Erik, 34, is a Modesto High School graduate who grew up amid chickens and rabbits at his parents’ home. He spent summers helping on a larger spread near Los Banos where his grandparents had cattle, goats and other animals.
“It’s just been in our family since we were little kids,” he said.
The Turlock store has just one employee so far, Daniel Martino. It’s in the building that most recently housed Aloha Hydroponics.
The business plans to offer discounts to 4-H and FFA members needing feed and supplies for their livestock projects. And it will have chicks for sale come spring.
Elite Farm Supply is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. Call 209-620-8775.
This story was originally published December 28, 2018 at 3:31 PM.
