Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for hatcheries.
A checklist built from how hatcheries work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Egg receiving and lot register
- Egg room and fumigation log
- Setter and hatcher loads
- Candling and breakout
- Chick grading and vaccination
- Farm orders and dispatch
- Hatchery billing
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For hatchery managers
- For egg room staff
- For incubation technicians
- For the pull and grading line
- For dispatch and sales
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Hatchability and fertility by breeder flock and flock age
- Candling clears and early deaths by lot and setter
- Breakout findings by hatcher, pull date and lot
- Chick grade split and culls by day and operator
- Egg storage days against hatch result
- Farm orders against chicks supplied, with shortages
- Vaccine batches used and vials remaining
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Label printer
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can I read hatchability for each breeder flock?
- How are eggs from several flocks kept apart in one setter?
- Can the incubation readings be entered by hand?
- Does it track chick grade and culls for each farm order?
- Can it handle vaccination of day-old chicks?
- Is it suitable for hatcheries with several breeds?
- Will our existing flock and farm customer lists carry over?
- Who sees breeder-farm feedback?
- What decides the cost, and what do we see first?
- What if our hatchery works across two sites?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- A poor hatch cannot be traced
- Machine logs live on paper
- Candling results are tallied late
- Chick grade is a verbal judgement
- Orders overrun the setting plan
Prefer to talk it through? See the hatcheries page.