How does one keep a flock in their pocket?
No, we promise it’s not some sort of fowl magic trick performed by an illusionist. Our tagline “keep your flock in your pocket ”refers to the extreme accessibility of our program, via an app on your mobile device. Wherever you go, you can take the stats on your birds with you.
Hello from Kristin and Jessica! We are the owners and co-founders of HatchTracker, which is an inventory management program, built for gamebird producers by gamebird producers. Our program consists of an app on your mobile device, as well as a client portal on your desktop or laptop computer that allows you to track a variety of important statistics on your gamebird production, including mortality rate, male to female ratio, egg production, pounds of feed, indoor and outdoor temperatures, and more! We are always looking for ways to make our product a better fit for the needs of the gamebird industry, and would love to hear your suggestions if you think of something we can be doing better!
Before we get too deep into the feathers of it all, let us tell you a bit about ourselves. HatchTracker was hatched from the egg of necessity. Jessica’s husband, Wes, is a chukar producer, and shortly after he began his venture, he realized that he was not the best keeper of records. The farm does not have an office setup where Wes could manage the business, so all business work had to be done at their home 45 minutes away. Wes was constantly juggling notes between home and the farm, which led to things being missed or misplaced, or inaccessible at home when the data was needed.
After fruitlessly scouring the internet for a tool to make Wes’ life easier, HatchTracker hatched. This program allowed Wes to track all the necessary data (such as mortality rate and available birds) from his phone, no matter where he was. This made planning and strategy meetings at home much easier, because the data was at his fingertips. He also could take customer reservations on the spot since he was able to see how many birds he had at any given time, and didn’t have to jot down details on a scratchpad at the farm just to call the customer back later to confirm the reservation.
Once proven to be helpful for their own operation, Jessica saw the potential value that HatchTracker could bring to the gamebird industry at large. A 4th generation entrepreneur, Jessica grew up surrounded by agriculturally-minded folks who wanted to help support the communities in which they lived. She can appreciate the value of time, especially when you need to make business decisions quickly. Jessica also has a deep appreciation for small business owners and the many hats they wear – from owner/operator to customer service to janitor to purchaser, and more. Since Wes and Jessica juggle several businesses between themselves, Jessica sought out Kristin for her help in taking HatchTracker to market.
Kristin’s professional background is in project and operations management, and she was delighted at the opportunity to step into the gamebird industry and learn more. HatchTracker presented a chance to apply her skill set in a new industry, and start a small business with friends she loved dearly. Although she’s new to gamebirds, Kristin grew up in 4-H, and surrounded by farmers on the Palouse region in Idaho. She loves all things agriculture, and is looking forward to seeing the gamebird industry continue to thrive as it evolves to keep up with the digital age.
But what does HatchTracker *do*?
Well, first things first, we love to connect with people, so if you’re interested in learning more than what we share here today, give us a call, send us an email, or drop us a text. We’d be more than happy to give you a customized demo and discuss your operation’s needs. All of our contact information will be at the bottom of the article.
In an eggshell, HatchTracker tracks data related to your birds, and generates reports that allow you to make business decisions. You can log data about eggs you incubate and hatch, day-old chicks you receive and grow, mature birds of varying ages, breeding stock, egg collection from your breeders, and more. You can track mortality rate, pounds of feed given, temperature inside the barn, outside temperature at the barn location, and number of eggs collected. You can customize your profile to match your set-up, with separate locations, barns, and hatches so it is easy to see the data for a specific subset of your birds, or see the flock as a whole. We’ve made HatchTracker as flexible as we can so that it can fit a variety of gamebird farms, across varying business sizes and bird species.
You can also take customer reservations from the field and enter them in the app, right where you are. No more guessing if you can fill a customer’s order when they call to request birds; pull up the app, and you can tell them straightaway if you can book them. You can also edit reservations, manage a task list and calendar, view your bird data, and enter written notes in your daily log.
Once you get back to a desktop computer, you can log into your client portal to view your data, generate reports to see trends across your flock, and manage your employees added to your profile. Your employees have limited access so they can enter data for you, but will not be able to see your passwords, payment information, or subscription level.
Need help or having an issue? Call us. One of the perks of a small business being run by two type-A individuals is that we are eager to please, and almost always available to help answer questions on the spot. We have a responsive tech team that can help us troubleshoot any issues that we can’t solve ourselves.
info@hatchtracker.com or (888) 891-3231
