How to build a before-and-after measurement plan for a poultry upgrade: baseline, KPIs, commissioning and maintenance

Which KPIs should you choose?

Upgrade	Primary KPI	Supporting KPIs
Ventilation / cooling	Mortality and weight in hot weeks	Air speed at bird level, house temperature, water use
Insulation / heating	Fuel or kWh per kg produced	Night temperature range, litter condition
Drinking / feeding lines	Uniformity and FCR	Water flow at line ends, feed wastage
Controls and alarms	Alarm response time, events without loss	Temperature deviation minutes
Lighting	Lighting kWh	Lux uniformity, production KPIs for your type
Hatchery equipment	Hatch of fertile eggs	Chick quality score, machine temperature records

Choose two or three primary KPIs; too many makes the result hard to read.

How do you set a fair baseline?

• Use at least three comparable flocks: same house, line, season and target weight if possible.
• Fix definitions (what counts as mortality, how feed is measured).
• Check instruments: calibrate scales, test water meters and sensors before the "before" period ends.
• Record events that could distort results (disease outbreaks, feed changes, power cuts).

Commissioning and acceptance tests

1. Pre-installation: agree drawings, specifications, and the acceptance test list.
2. Installation check: components match the order, wiring and safety checked.
3. Functional tests: each fan stage, heater, pad pump, alarm call-out and backup transfer tested and logged.
4. Performance test: measured values (air speed, flow, temperature control) against the contract figures.
5. Handover: manuals, settings backup, training records, spare-parts list, service contacts.

Write who measures, how and when, and what happens if a test fails.

Before-and-after template (hypothetical values)

Values below are invented to show the layout only.

KPI	Before (mean of 3 flocks)	After (mean of 3 flocks)	Difference	Comparable conditions?
Hot-week mortality %	2.1	1.6	−0.5	Similar summer temperatures — check logs
kWh per kg	0.25	0.23	−0.02	Same tariff period
Uniformity (% within ±10%)	78	80	+2	Same line and age

A difference only means something when conditions are comparable and the spread between flocks is smaller than the change.

Maintenance plan after the upgrade

• Schedule: fan belts and shutters, pad cleaning, line flushing, sensor calibration, generator test under load.
• Log every fault with date, cause and downtime.
• Review the maintenance log alongside KPIs at each flock close-out.
• Agree spare parts held on site and supplier response times in writing.

What if data is missing?

If you have fewer than three comparable flocks, say so and extend the measurement period after the upgrade. If an instrument was missing before, install it now and treat the first flocks as the new baseline for later improvements rather than claiming a before-and-after effect.