Poultry farmers can keep poultry records on paper, on spreadsheet applications on the web and desktop, or via dedicated poultry management smartphone apps.
By keeping flock records, poultry farmers can practice data based poultry farming and eliminate guesswork. Thus, if you are a poultry farmer, it is essential to log and track the performance of your flocks.
With flock records, you can determine your flocks’ egg production, and production rate, mortality rates and liveability, and the financial performance of your poultry farm.
What are poultry records?
A poultry flock record is data logged on paper or in some digital format, about a specific flocks’ growth, mortality, liveability, egg production, expenses and sales performance.
Moreover, a flock record can contain data on the flock’s feeding, and vaccination schedule.
Keeping flock records: 4 ways
There are at least 4 ways by which you can keep flock records. These include mobile apps. web or desktop applications, spreadsheet applications and on paper. Lets look at this briefly.
1. Mobile apps
The easiest way to keep flock records is by using a mobile application. Our upcoming flock management and record keeping app, among others, enables you to manage your poultry farms. Additionally, such apps support coops and flock management. Furthermore, you get simplified record keeping and sharing.
2. Web apps
There are several web applications you can use for flock management and record keeping. For instance Poultry Care is a good example. In contrast to mobile apps, web applications are best usable on the web using desktop browsers. See our shortlist of 7 poultry software built for web.
Web applications are best suited for large poultry companies. For instance, poultry farms dealing with dozens or hundreds of flocks at a time, and having large personnel managing the farm and keeping records.
3. Spreadsheet applications
Thirdly, you can keep flock records by using spreadsheet applications online, on desktop or mobile. However, using a spreadsheet application to fit record keeping needs will requires some expertise to setup data structures and to maintain them.
4. Manually, on paper
Finally, you can keep flock records on good old paper. Such records however, will not be high reliable since you will be prone to misplacing or losing them.
Advantages of keeping poultry records
By keeping flock records, you can practice data based decision making. For instance, you can track by day, week and month, for instance, how much expenses they have incurred and what sales the’ve made.
Furthermore, you can use such data to determine the capital they need for instance, to purchase new flocks. Moreover, you can also easily determine their flocks’ mortality rate, egg production and production rates.
Disadvantages of not keeping poultry records
Practicing poultry farming without doing record keeping results to guesswork.
Without flock records, a poultry farmer cannot tell how much they spend or income they get from their flocks, and if they make a profit. They cannot determine the mortality rate or liveability rate for their flock is.
Similarly, for layers flock farmers, they cannot determine their flocks’ egg production and production rates.
Key takeaways
- Flock management and records are an essential tool for poultry farmers. Flock records enable farmers to understand their flocks, farming practices and financial performance.
- Poultry farming record keeping and management can be done on various mediums including on paper, on desktop or on the web applications such Spreadsheets, or on smartphone apps.
- Using dedicated poultry management and record keeping apps can greatly simplify record keeping and make it delightful
- Flock records remove the application of guesswork and enabling farmers to practice data-based farming decisions.