 Video 8. Monitoring and Marketing. This video is part of a series developed for the Sustainable Wildlife Management Program to provide guidance for a successful family poultry production. It focuses on small extensive and extensive scavenging systems but will also be useful for semi-intensive production systems. You may want to produce chicken for your own consumption of meat and eggs or for sale. In both cases monitoring your production, the money you spent and the money you earn will help you optimize your benefits. As a good farmer you should observe the birds behavior and the conditions in the pen every day. This will help you determine how the birds are performing and what interventions need to be made. This will also allow early detection of disease, malnutrition or other problems to help you take action before problems increase. For example, if egg production drops suddenly, there may be a problem with the poultry house, the feed or water. If egg production drops gradually, this may be time to change your older hands. Upon opening and entering the pen, be still until the birds get used to your presence and resume normal behavior. Pick up individual birds and examine them. When working with the birds, the farmer can engage his or her different senses. Hearing, listen to the birds chirping and to their breathing. Sight, observe the bird distribution in the pen, bird behavior and activity, the feed and water containers and signs of pests and vermin, etc. Smell, is the air fresh or stale? Is there moldy feed? Touch, how is your chicks crop? How is their temperature? A healthy bird is active and alert, has a straight neck and bright eyes, a clean vent, clean and smooth feathers and strong legs and feet. After some time, you will know your flock perfectly and be able to notice anything unusual. Record keeping. It is recommended to keep a monitoring notebook and fill it in on a daily or weekly basis. The bigger the flock, the more important record keeping will be. The complexity of the records can vary depending on your needs and your activity. Here is an example of a monitoring notebook for extensive scavenging or semi-intensive systems. In this example, over the period of time considered, there were 15 new animals in the flock. 5 chicks hatched and 10 bought and 6 were removed. 1 dead chick plus 5 chickens sold. Hence, the total size of the flock increased by 9 birds. 15 minus 6 equals 9. In this same period, the total cost was $14 for poultry house material plus $10 for chicks equals $24. The total income was $25 from chicken plus $5 from eggs plus $4 from manure equals $34. Thus, the revenue, income minus total costs is $34 minus $24 equals $10. Marketing. If you plan to sell some of your production, think ahead and evaluate the market price for each type of product you plan to sell. Such as cockerels, cocks, hens, chicks or eggs. Chicken manure is also rich in nitrogen and other minerals and could be sold or exchanged as plant or fish pond fertilizer. Who will slaughter the birds? How will you transport them to the market? Cockerels should be sold as soon as they are big enough to get a good price. Since the market price is sold as soon as they are big enough to get a good price, since one cock for about 10 hens is sufficient to produce fertile eggs. Old hens that are no longer laying should also be sold. To improve the characteristics of your flock, make sure to keep the birds that perform well while eating or selling those that are less productive. Take home messages. Observing your flock every day will allow you to react promptly if any problems arise. Keeping records of your production, money spent and earned will help maximize your profits. If you plan to sell your birds, evaluate the price and conditions for sale in advance. Keep the best birds in your flock and eat or sell for meat those that are less productive.