iGallus Limited

Use F.L.A.W.S. when inspecting a chicken house.

The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry. ~Bayombe Proverb

Do we need to be a detective in a chicken house?

I have always thought that being a detective was yet another of the many skills one needs have to work in the poultry industry.

Old skills die hard.

Yes I am sure most of you are thinking...oh this again.. Well lets bring it back again. Lets face it nothing compares to walking through a chicken house (Yes all the way to the rear of the house) and inspecting the flock. I have walked probably hundreds of kilometers in chicken houses in various roles from chicken catcher to production manager. Over time I have been able to learn / pick up and now take for granted what to look for when inspecting a flock.

Early on in my career an experienced poultry manager told me about F.L.A.W.S. he used it on a daily basis to check the several houses he was managing. He complained he had a poor concentration span and used F.L.A.W.S. to check and cover all the important aspects of flock inspection.

What is F.L.A.W.S?

Its an easy way to remember some of the key points to check in a poultry house. Lets break it down simply. There are other points to add but I will leave this to you to add in your own time.

F. - Feed

Check all aspects that involve feed. Feed type, quality, stocks, levels in feeders, feeding time and so on.

L. - Lights

Check all aspects that involve light. Time clock, light intensity, no. of bulbs broken and natural light seepage.

A. - Air

Air quality, air temperature and ventilation for age of bird.

W. - Water

Evenness of water supply, water temperature and quality.

S. - Sanitation

Quality and level of bio security entering the house. Tidiness of the house and cleanliness of stock or eggs being produced.

There are other aspects that I have not covered here, but what I have found if you keep to these simple points often other important points will show themselves. Why? Well simply because you are concentrating on the points of F.L.A.W.S.

It really is easy to walk several chicken houses in a day dream or thinking about the monthly budget you have to hand in and walk past a number of small problems that if missed can seriously cost your budget!

Thanks for reading!

Any questions I would be happy to help, email me on jeremy@igallus.com