“Woke to two pullets gone, taken by a predator who dug a hole under the coop on the east side. The chicks were a Buff Orpington and a Barred Rock.” - July 27, 2007

Keeping a journal of my chickens may be the best poultry-keeping decision I ever made. It is a working database of egg counts, broody hens, harvested animals and predator deaths. I have pages of notes about successes and failures. My poultry journal makes it easy to document everything about my flock, and what they have taught me, in one place. In my poultry journal, I jot down information about egg counts, odd eggs, eating habits, experimental feed, broodiness, the first roost of maturing hens, and even such things as temperatures or when the coops were built or equipment added. Here are tips for preserving your own poultry experiences on paper:

Take photos. The hens and roosters in my coop are all adults, but memories rush back when I look at photos of them as chicks, playing with my grandsons. I once took photos only for fun, but today I try to document our flock every month or two. In addition to offering a comprehensive visual record, it’s just fun! If you are not inclined to write, a journal of dated photos is an easy way to keep records of your flock, your coop system, feeding, harvesting and poultry health.

Keep it short and simple. Over the years I have found that I rarely need to write more than a few sentences on any given day. Short entries do the trick.

Jot down what works—and what doesn't. My notes from June, 2007, include these: “I got chicks from Intermountain Farmers – assorted bantams, Buff Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. We put them in the ‘chick’ coop and something killed four of them overnight. I sandbagged the coop and bought four more. Two more were killed the next night so I’ve been posting Sharky (our dog) out there every night and no more dead chicks! Getting the chicks this late worked well because it was hot enough for them to stay outside even the first night, instead of in the house.”

Make it yours. I keep a separate personal journal, but that doesn’t mean my poultry journal is without personal experiences. Looking back, the personal entries are the most fun to read. For example: “Feb. 3, 2006: Manny (our son-in-law) killed a rooster. Charmayne cooked it.” And May 14, 2006: “I forgot to plant the tomatoes I bought yesterday at Intermountain Farmers Association, of all places, while picking up feed corn for the chickens.” And here is one of my favorite entries, from Jan. 1, 2008: “Something spectacular happened today. I found six eggs in the nest box – our first-ever winter eggs. An auspicious beginning to the new year.”

Sketch in details. While it’s true that rough drawings add visual interest, a quick illustration now and then also helps document your poultry history. For example, on the night our first-ever broody hen’s eggs began hatching out, I sketched the line one chick had pecked across the exact center of the egg. If you are artistic, put in a few quick watercolor studies of your chickens or even their tracks in the mud of your backyard pond.

Specifics count. A journal is a repository for years of experience that would otherwise be lost to time. I can jot notes on what feeds I’m using, when feed is switched seasonally, how I’ve dealt with predators, or the consumption rate of additives such as oyster shells or granite pebbles. I can track food prices over time, allowing me to figure my cost per egg or animal harvested if I wish. If you have a mobile coop, you can document where it’s been, and for how long. If your coops are stationary like mine, you can track when they were last cleaned. The poultry journal is also a great place to catalog anything new you’ve learned from others with chicken-keeping experience, or information gleaned from books or the many Backyard Poultry articles worth remembering for future reference.

Preserve the homestead heritage. The last generation with significant poultry-keeping experience in America is the World War II generation, whose members grow more sparse with each passing day. I am convinced that keeping notes on our chickens may be more than a hobby – it may help save our agricultural heritage. More and more people are coming to lament the knowledge, breeds, and wisdom won through experience that we have already lost. My grandfather, Phil Nielson, kept a farm diary every day of his working life, cataloging simple information that now not only represents my heritage, but is a working history of an age gone by, knowledge that could never be recreated had it not been recorded in his hand. A poultry journal is a place to catalog the heritage information future generations may need, whether because of a need to return to the land or simply because they want to. And, especially with photos, it can be an unusual conversation piece or family history item that may spur the interest of the rising generation.

Keep a combination garden/poultry journal. Branch out. It’s not just the chickens that benefit from having a written record over time. Expanding your poultry journal to include garden activity allows you to catalog not only the first spring egg but also the first crocuses or when your Veronica geraniums got sunburned. You can record maps of your garden plot from year to year to guide your crop rotation, and even press a fall leaf or three.

Avoid journal guilt. There are whole seasons missing from my poultry journal, and that’s okay. Sometimes I’m not in the mood, and at the busiest times, weeks go by without entries. For me, the journal is good enough if I write when I can.

Do it with joy. Whether in the barnyard, my poultry journal, my marriage or my career, I try to remember that if I’m not enjoying myself, I’m not doing it right. I keep a poultry journal so I can look back on what I’ve accomplished, catalog my ideas, successes and photos in one place, and have a tangible chart of my personal and poultry progress. Happy chicken journaling!