[Lindeggs]

I've noticed that some people keep quite detailed records of how their chickens are growing, what and when they lay, etc.

What records do you keep, and why?

As a new chicken-keeper (8-week-old pullets arriving at the end of the month) what spreadsheets should I set up in anticipation of receiving my girls?  Do you have any sample spreadsheets you can share?

I would imagine that recording their weights when I first get them would be a good starting point, so I will know who is gaining weight steadily and who may be growing more slowly - and perhaps failing to thrive.  But what benchmark do I use to know whether they are gaining weight at the expected rate?  Are there chicken growth charts for different breeds?

[Casey76]

Growth charts are really only any good for table birds, when you want to calculate the conversion rate of food to weight etc.

I know some people make egg charts, however if all your hens lay similar size/shape/colour eggs then it will be difficult to keep a chart of the egg laying for each hen.  though you could simplify it to 1 egg today, 3 eggs today 2 eggs today etc, if that would satisfy your record keeping

At the moment I have a hatching egg spread sheet ongoing, eg.g source, cost, breed, colour, cockerel, what day they were set, how many were viable, hatch date... and for the future, leg ring number and sex.

[joyfull]

I don't keep any records unless I am hatching and then I only mark down the date they go under the broody and the expected hatch date.

[carolbriar]

I keep an egg diary.  As each of my hens lay different eggs so I can tell who is laying which is useful but I only do it really out of curiosity to see who is laying and how many over time.  Ok, didn't think of cleaning out the hen house and worming.  Yes, I keep a record of when I do those too!

[Fisherman]

I keep a record of eggs produced and of expenditure i.e. feed, hygiene products, health products, bedding etc. Based on my records there aint any money in back garden chicken keeping but we don't do it for that do we

[ManicMum]

I got a spare calendar at Christmas so am using it to note clean out dates, when I Vaselined their legs, etc.  It will also be handy to keep a note of when they were wormed, when each chicken joined the gang and other things you think will be memorable but which fade into a blur over a few weeks/months

Will keep a log of eggs (when......)

I also thought just noting when a new sack of feed, etc is started will help me to have an idea of cost.

I'm not an obsessive record keeper, so I want to keep it simple.

[Lindeggs]

Thanks for those good ideas.  I will go out and get myself a "chook book" today to record some of the key information.

It seems mostly people are recording financial info.  Are there any health/husbandry issues I should record?  Worming and other treatments make sense - I think I will record those on my wall calendar for easy reference.

So is there general consensus that recording the weight of pullets destined to be layers isn't particularly useful?

[hillfooter]

No Lindeggs, there's no need to record weights. 

I just record the breed and when I got them and from whom and if I know, when they hatched,  I also keep records of worming and I have kept laying records through the year,  cumulative and daily totals against dates. 

You can keep records of treatments, moulting  etc if you like it all helps to build your knowledge.

If I sell chx I keep a record of who had them.

HF