Digitize Your Broiler Farm Management Processes

Here’s a breakdown of the key processes:

• Feed management: Ensuring that broilers receive the right type and amount of feed at different growth stages to promote healthy development. 
• Health monitoring and disease control: Regularly checking the health of the flock to detect signs of illness early, administering vaccinations, and maintaining biosecurity protocols to minimize disease outbreaks.
• Environmental control: Managing the temperature, humidity, ventilation, and lighting within the broiler houses to create a comfortable and optimal environment for growth. This includes adjusting settings based on the age and needs of the broilers.
• Growth rate tracking: Monitoring the growth rates of broilers by recording weight and other physical parameters at different stages to ensure they are developing according to expectations.
• Inventory management: Keeping track of feed, medicine, and other supplies to ensure there are no shortages or excesses, which could disrupt farm operations or increase costs.
• Labor management: Organizing tasks for farm workers, scheduling shifts, and tracking labor costs to ensure efficient operations and accountability.
• Production planning and forecasting: Planning for future batches, setting growth targets, and estimating output based on current data trends to make informed decisions about scaling and sales.
• Compliance and record-keeping: Maintaining accurate farm records for regulatory compliance, including health checks, vaccination logs, feed usage reports, and environmental monitoring data.
• Data analysis and reporting: Analyzing farm data to identify trends, make performance comparisons, and generate reports that help farmers make smarter decisions.

It might not seem like that at first, but broiler farm management takes a lot of precision. And to be precise, broiler farm managers and owners need timely and accurate data.

This is one of the reasons why more and more broiler farms are looking to digitize their processes and data management.

The two main approaches to digitizing broiler farm management

When it comes to digitizing your hatchery management, there are two main strategies you can consider: 

1. You can look for ERP or poultry management software with a broiler production management module. 
2. Or you can digitize specific broiler farm processes using a no-code platform. 

Each approach has its advantages and limitations. The right choice will depend on the specific needs of your broiler farm.

1) Using a module inside ERP or poultry management software

Some ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and poultry management software offer specific modules tailored for broiler production management. These modules often attempt to integrate various processes, from feed management and growth tracking to environmental monitoring and compliance.

Ideal use cases for this approach:

• Larger farms or enterprises: Farms with extensive operations, multiple locations, or complex supply chains often benefit from ERP solutions because they can centralize all farm data in one place.
• Farms looking for centralized management: If you prefer an all-in-one system that covers other areas like accounting, inventory, human resources, and broiler management, an ERP with a broiler module could be the right fit.
• Farms already using an ERP: If your farm already uses an ERP system, it should be fairly straightforward to add a broiler management module to your existing setup (if your ERP offers such a module).

Limitations of this approach:

• Higher costs: ERP and poultry management software often require significant investment upfront, including licensing fees, setup, and customization costs. This approach might not be cost-effective for smaller operations.
• Complexity and implementation time: Implementing an ERP solution can be time-consuming and requires specialized training for staff. Smaller operations with limited technical expertise might find the complexity a barrier to entry.
• Limited flexibility: While ERPs are comprehensive, they often lack flexibility for unique processes or specific workflows that your farm might need, requiring inefficient workarounds.

2) Digitizing select processes with a no-code platform

A no-code platform like Forms On Fire allows you to digitize specific broiler farm processes without needing extensive technical skills or a large IT budget. Instead of relying on a comprehensive ERP system, you can create mobile forms and apps tailored to your farm’s exact needs — whether it's tracking feed usage, monitoring bird growth, or managing worker schedules.

This approach gives you the flexibility to build and adjust processes quickly, ensuring your digital tools evolve as your farm does.

Ideal use cases for this approach:

• Smaller or medium-sized farms: Farms that don’t need a full ERP system but still want to digitize key operations will benefit from the lower costs and ease of use that a no-code platform provides.
• Personalized workflows: If your farm has a unique way of doing things, a no-code platform allows you to create customized solutions that fit perfectly into your existing workflows.
• The controlled pace of digitization: Farms looking to experiment with new processes or digitize gradually can use a no-code platform to build and test digital tools, making adjustments on the fly as needed.

Limitations of this approach:

• Takes some time to set up: While you can use various form templates to get started, no-code platforms do not provide an out-of-the-box solution like ERP or dedicated poultry farm management software does. You will have to spend some time in the beginning to create/adjust and connect digital forms you want to use. 
• Lack of comprehensiveness: No-code platforms are great for focused digitization efforts. However, if you are looking for a comprehensive solution that covers the entirety of your farming operations, off-the-shelf ERP/farm management software will be a better fit for you.

Build your broiler farm management software with Forms On Fire

Forms On Fire is a powerful no-code platform that enables farm managers to create custom applications tailored precisely to their needs. Instead of adapting your farm’s processes to fit pre-built software, you can build digital forms and workflows that match your exact requirements.

With Forms On Fire, you have the flexibility to start small — digitizing just a few key processes initially — and expand as your farm grows or as new needs arise.

This scalable approach allows you to build a management solution that evolves alongside your operation. You can easily adjust forms, workflows, and data inputs to accommodate changes, making it an ideal platform for broiler farms of all sizes.

Here’s how that works in practice.

1) Identify tasks and processes you want to digitize

The first step in building your broiler farm management software with Forms On Fire is to identify which tasks and processes you want to digitize.

Start by assessing your farm's current operations and pinpointing the areas that could benefit most from digital transformation. This might include processes that are time-consuming, error-prone, or difficult to track manually.

Here are some common areas that broiler farm managers typically focus on digitizing:

• Feed management forms: Track feed usage per flock and monitor daily consumption to optimize feed efficiency. 
• Flock health monitoring forms: Record health checks, vaccinations, and any medical treatments administered to your broilers. 
• Growth tracking forms: Regularly log the weights and growth stages of your birds to ensure they are meeting target growth rates. These forms can include automated calculations that help you analyze trends and adjust feeding or environmental controls.
• Environmental monitoring forms: Digitize the monitoring of temperature, humidity, and ventilation levels in your broiler houses.
• Broiler house inspection forms: Conduct regular inspections of broiler houses to assess cleanliness, equipment condition, and overall safety.
• Labor and task management forms: Assign tasks to workers, track their completion, and monitor labor hours.

By starting with the most impactful areas, you can quickly see the benefits of digitization and gradually expand to other processes.

2) Build the forms 

With Forms On Fire, you don’t need to be a tech expert to create custom forms that fit your specific needs — just follow the intuitive drag-and-drop interface to design forms that match your processes.

You can start from scratch or use one of the pre-built templates available, which can be quickly customized to suit your farm’s requirements.

On top of that, we offer several small but powerful features that many of our agricultural clients are putting to good use. Examples include:

• QR code scanning: Use QR codes to quickly log and identify different flocks, feed batches, or equipment, streamlining data entry and reducing the likelihood of errors.
• Digital signatures: Collect signatures directly on the forms to verify task completion, inspections, or delivery of supplies, ensuring accountability and traceability.
• Offline capability: Manage your farm even in remote locations with limited internet access. Forms On Fire allows you to complete forms and capture data offline, automatically syncing once a stable connection is available.
• Integrations: Whether it’s your accounting software or Google Drive, the forms and apps you build can securely communicate with over 6000 different systems.

Our amazing support team will guide you throughout the whole process, ensuring your forms are built efficiently and meet your needs. You can move from concept to deployment quickly, with the confidence that help is available whenever you need it.

3) Test and deploy the forms

Before officially deploying the forms, test them out in the field.

Let a few workers use the newly built digital forms to record and gather data. The reason for this is twofold: 

1. When they’re done, you can check the reports to validate that the forms function correctly and collect the right data. 
2. You can ask staff for feedback and polish the forms based on their insights.

Then, you can organize a kick-off meeting with staff to show them how to use the forms and answer any questions.

With the hard work out of the way, the only thing left is to track if the forms are being properly used — and leverage this data to optimize broiler production.

Next steps

If you're ready to start building a custom solution, Forms On Fire offers a flexible, easy-to-use platform with the support you need to get up and running quickly.

Request a demo today to see how Forms On Fire can help you take control of your broiler farm management and streamline your processes. Our team will help you identify tasks and processes that are ripe for digitization.

Start small, digitize at your own pace, and watch your farm’s efficiency and productivity grow.