Record Keeping: The Mortality Tracker

The Three Pillars of Record Keeping

The Mortality Log: Every time a bird dies, record the date, the age of the bird, and the suspected cause (e.g., “crushed,” “diarrhea,” “unknown”). If you see 3 birds die of the same cause in 2 days, you have an emergency.
The Feed Log: Record every bag of feed you open. This helps you calculate your Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) – how many bags did it take to reach market weight?
The Weight Log: Every Saturday, pick 5 random birds and weigh them using a hanging scale. Compare their average weight to the “Breed Standard” (the weight the hatchery says they should be at that age).

The Sell Window Calculation

Turkeys have a Point of Diminishing Returns.

Up to Week 20, they are growing fast and using feed efficiently.
By Week 24, they eat a massive amount just to maintain their big bodies, and they gain very little new weight.
The Rule: If your records show that a Tom ate 4kg of feed this week (costing KES 300) but only gained 200g of weight (worth KES 150), you are losing money. You must sell that bird immediately.

Sample Record Table (The Weekly Check-In)

Week	Birds Alive	Feed Eaten (kg)	Avg Weight (kg)	Observations
Week 1	100	5kg	0.15kg	All active; no starve-outs.
Week 8	97	60kg	2.5kg	Switched to Grower; 1 death (leg injury).
Week 20	95	250kg	12.0kg	Toms strutting; feather pecking noticed.

Local Example: Mensah’s Data-Driven Success in Accra

Mensah noticed on his Week 14 Weight Log that his turkeys were 1kg lighter than they should have been. Because he had records, he looked back and saw that he had switched to a cheaper, “no-name” brand of feed two weeks prior. He immediately switched back to his trusted brand. Within two weeks, the birds caught up. Without records, he wouldn’t have noticed the slow-down until December, when it would have been too late to fix.

Important Things to Keep in Mind

The True Cost of a Dead Bird: When a turkey dies at Week 1, you lose KES 300 (the cost of the poult). When a turkey dies at Week 20, you lose KES 300 + KES 4,000 worth of feed. This is why late-stage biosecurity is so vital.
Be Honest: Don’t hide the bad news in your records. If 10 birds die, write it down. It’s the only way to learn from your mistakes.
Digital or Paper? A simple notebook kept in a dry plastic bag inside the turkey house is better than a fancy computer file that you never update.