If you are a serious poultry farmer who means business when it comes to raising chickens, then one of the indispensable practice of poultry farming business that you should possess is a good record keeping habit.
Apart from just having records, it has to be frequently updated capturing almost every single activity that occur on your poultry farm. It could either be in form of hard copy (paper documents) or on a computer system or even the combination of the two which I would even say is more preferable.
In summary, poultry farmers should keep the following records of their poultry farms up to date :
*Brooding record and Pullet record (Day 1 to Week 18)
*Laying flock record (Week 18/Start of lay to end of lay)
*Mortality record (Day 1 to Week 18) and (Week 18 to end of lay)
*Vaccination record (Day 1 to end of lay)
*Feed record (Day 1 to end of lay)
*Financial record (Onset of Planning to completion of every cycle)
*Health record (Day 1 to end of lay)
*Inventory record (throughout the existence of the farm)
* Assets record (From onset throughout the existence of the farm)
*Cost of production / sales record.
A good record keeping practice in poultry production would be beneficial to the farmer in many various ways.
You can easily make a comparison of feed consumption patterns over the years and see how improvements can be made in the face of ongoing challenges on the farm
You can easily monitor the health history of your birds, their vaccination and medication programs as well as their bio-security program.
It can be important in future decision making for your poultry business.
You can easily determine your profit or losses in poultry business
It can be beneficial in making expansion plans for your farm.
Your easily carry out a fixed assets depreciation valuation of assets on your farm.
If you have birds being raised in different batches/houses , it can help in comparing feed efficiency and performance of the different batches of the birds.
With a good financial records, you can easily take financial commitments decisions.
With a good record at one’s disposal, it can be a useful tool in identifying the strengths of the poultry farm.
Up to date and past records is a prequisite for loan accessibility from banks or funding organisations.
In other words, I recommend that every serious poultry farmer who wants to be successful in poultry business should cultivate the habit of good record keeping.
