Flock Health
Tracking Template

Why Flock Health
Record Keeping Matters

Chickens are prey animals. They hide illness until it's severe — by the time a hen looks sick, she's often been unwell for days. A flock health tracking template is how you outsmart this instinct: you catch trends before they become crises.

Daily Flock Health
Log Template

The daily check takes 60 seconds. The log takes 30. This is the template — use it on paper, in a notebook, or digitally inside Tended where it tracks automatically.

The 60-Second Daily
Health Checklist

Run this checklist every morning. Each item takes 5–10 seconds. The full checklist is done before your coffee gets cold.

• Count every bird All birds out and moving? A missing or motionless bird in the coop at morning release is an immediate flag.
• Scan for isolation Any bird standing alone, away from the flock? Sick hens withdraw from the group — this is often the first visible symptom.
• Check eyes and combs Eyes should be bright and fully open. Combs and wattles should be red and plump — pale or shrunken indicates stress, illness, or anemia.
• Listen for respiratory symptoms Any clicking, wheezing, or rattling when breathing? Healthy chickens are quiet. Respiratory disease announces itself early through sound.
• Check droppings Normal is dark brown with a white urate cap. Green, yellow, bloody, or extremely watery are all worth logging immediately.
• Refill water and confirm it is clean Dirty water grows bacteria. A chicken that stops drinking stops eating — and a hen that stops eating stops laying within 48 hours.
• Collect eggs and count Log your daily egg count. A sudden drop of 20%+ with no environmental change (cold snap, new birds, schedule change) warrants investigation.
• Scan vent area on at least one bird Check for mites, lice, or pasty buildup. Rotate which bird you check daily. Takes 10 seconds and catches parasite infestations weeks earlier.

Symptom Quick Reference

When you notice something in your daily log, this table tells you what it likely means and how urgently to act. Use it alongside your vet's guidance — not instead of it.

What to Record for
Each Bird

Flock-level records catch group problems. Individual bird records catch everything else. A 5-minute setup per bird pays off the first time you need to describe an animal's history to a vet.

Weekly and Monthly
Review Template

Daily logs capture individual data points. Weekly and monthly reviews find the trends — the kind of slow-moving pattern that a daily check misses entirely.

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