- ✓Choose six indicators and read them every week
- ✓Write your decision rules before you need them
- ✓Know when to stop a flock, change a supplier, or expand
The six indicators
| Indicator | Frequency | Green | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative mortality | Every day | Within the benchmarks (level 2) | Call thresholds exceeded |
| Average weight vs target | Every week | Gap < 5% | Gap > 10% or broken curve |
| Water / feed consumption | Every day | Water rising; ratio 1.6 to 2 | Water falling; ratio < 1.5 or > 3 |
| FCR (estimated in progress, real at the end) | Every week | Within the target | Above the target |
| Net margin per flock | End of flock | Positive and stable | Negative or falling over two flocks |
| Cash (days of feed covered) | Every week | Until the next sale | Less than two weeks |
For layers, replace the weight with the laying rate and add eggs per hen present. Six figures on a sheet of paper, or a weekly WhatsApp message from the technician: that is your dashboard (level 5 extends it to large farms).
The Monday ritual
Every week, on a fixed day, twenty minutes: the six figures, the gap from the target, one decision (or the decision to change nothing). With the technician if possible, by telephone otherwise. This ritual avoids the two classic mistakes: looking at nothing until the sale, and changing everything as soon as a figure moves. One single action per week, noted, checked the following week.
The rules written in advance
We decide badly under stress. Write your rules when everything is going well:
- Stop a flock early (sell before the planned weight) if: mortality exceeds X% despite the veterinarian, or the cash no longer covers the feed until the planned date, or the market price collapses and the curve slows down.
- Change feed supplier if: two flocks in a row show abnormal consumption, doubtful bags or failed transitions, documented on the record sheet. Never on a single flock nor on a promised price.
- Reduce the density in the next flock if: heat mortality, unmanageable litter, uniformity below 70%.
- Change the type of chick if: the white broiler buyer is not reliable, or the period is too hot.
- Grow (one more house) if: three flocks in a row with a positive net margin, a buyer asking for more, cash that covers the feed of all the flocks, a team that holds up.
- Take a break if: two flocks in a row at a loss with no cause corrected. A break to understand is better than a third loss.
The scenarios
Before each flock, three lines: “if all goes well”, “if it goes so-so” (+10% losses, one week late at the sale), “if it goes badly” (heat, disease, low prices). With the level 1 calculator, each scenario has its margin. If the middle scenario is already negative, the flock is not launched as it stands. The entrepreneur who has seen the bad scenario beforehand does not panic when it arrives.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Six indicators, a weekly twenty-minute ritual, a single action per week.
- ›Write your decision rules today, not on the day of the problem.
- ›Before expanding: three positive flocks, a buyer, the cash for all the flocks, a team that holds up.
For the technician
- ›Send the six figures every week, on the fixed day, without being asked.
- ›Report the same day any indicator that turns red.
- ›Take part in the ritual: propose an action, then check its effect the following week.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- What are this week’s six figures, and which one is red?
- What action did we decide last week, and what was its effect?
- Which scenario (good, middle, bad) are we in today compared with the initial calculation?
Key points
- •Six indicators: mortality, weight vs target (or laying rate), water/feed, FCR, net margin, cash in days of feed.
- •A weekly twenty-minute ritual, one action per week, checked the following week.
- •Rules written in advance: stop early, change supplier (two documented flocks), reduce density, change type, grow, take a break.
- •Three scenarios before each flock; if the middle scenario is negative, the flock is not launched as it stands.