- ✓Define clear roles and written instructions, displayed on the wall
- ✓Put in place regular checks that protect everyone
- ✓Pay and motivate on results, train, and prevent conflicts
Clear roles
| Role | Responsible for | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Farm manager / technician | Management of the flock, daily record sheet, health, calls to the veterinarian, feed stock, team | 1 for the farm, present at brooding |
| Poultry worker | Water, feed, litter, removal of dead birds, cleaning, curtains | 1 for 2,000 to 3,000 broilers; more for layers (egg collection) |
| Watchman / night presence | Security, heat and spreading of the chicks at night during brooding, alerts | Essential the first nights and against theft |
| Entrepreneur | Decisions, purchases, sales, cash flow, weekly check | Present at the sale weighing and at the bag count |
Each role is written on a sheet: the tasks of the morning, midday, evening, night; who calls whom in the event of a problem; what is forbidden (products in the water, visitors, backyard poultry). This sheet is displayed in the feed store and signed.
The checks that protect
Checks are not mistrust: they are the same rules for everyone, and they protect the honest employee as much as the entrepreneur.
- The bag count every week (level 2): received − distributed = stock. This is check no. 1, because feed is the farm's money.
- The bird count on reception, at each cull, at the sale; mortality noted every day: birds that have “disappeared” without deaths recorded are a warning sign.
- The record sheet checked every week with a walk round the house.
- Unannounced visits: a visit at an unexpected hour, once a month, is worth ten lectures.
- The farm's WhatsApp group: every day, a photo of the record sheet and a photo of the flock; every week, the average weight. Simple, free, and it builds a habit.
Pay, motivate, train
A fair wage paid on the agreed date is the foundation; nothing holds without it. Add a results bonus linked to figures the employee controls: mortality below a threshold, FCR below a target, house ready on the date. No bonus on the selling price, which he does not control. The bonus is calculated in front of him, at the end of each flock, with the record sheet.
Train: the NEXTEKCI School is free and gives a certificate at each level; a technician who progresses costs less than a technician who leaves. Also give him rest (one day a week, organised with a replacement) and decent accommodation if he lives on site: an exhausted man does not get up at 2 am to check the heat.
Preventing conflicts
- The rules are the same for everyone, including family and yourself (boots, footbath, no visitors).
- All bird outgoings (sale, gift, consumption on site) go through the record sheet, signed.
- An emergency budget (gas, veterinarian, feed) available to the technician, with receipts, so that he does not wait for your approval to save the flock.
- When a figure does not add up, you look for the cause together before accusing: a writing error is common; theft, rare but real, shows up over several weeks.
- Say what is good when it is good: a successful flock is congratulated, in front of the team.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Write the roles and the instructions, display them, sign them; do the bag count yourself every week.
- ›Bonus on mortality and FCR, calculated in front of the employee with the record sheet; wage on the agreed date, without exception.
- ›Give the technician an emergency budget and the right to call the veterinarian: you are not there at 2 am.
For the technician
- ›Daily record sheet and photos on the WhatsApp group; weekly weight; bag stock always accurate.
- ›Every bird outgoing goes through the record sheet; every emergency expense has its receipt.
- ›The displayed instructions apply to everyone, including family visitors.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- Are the morning, evening and night instructions displayed, and who replaces whom on the day off?
- Which figures determine the bonus for this flock, and where do we stand?
- What do you do if the gas runs out at 2 am and I do not answer the phone?
Key points
- •Roles written, displayed, signed: farm manager, worker (1 for 2,000 to 3,000 chickens), night presence, entrepreneur.
- •Checks for everyone: bags counted, birds counted, record sheet checked, unannounced visit, daily WhatsApp group.
- •Wage on the agreed date + bonus on mortality and FCR calculated in front of the employee; rest, accommodation, training (NEXTEKCI School).
- •Same rules for everyone; bird outgoings signed; emergency budget; look for the cause before accusing.