Documentation

Getting started with PoultryDesk

From your first sign-in to entering real farm figures, in about 30 minutes.

Last updated 2026-07-29

Getting started with PoultryDesk

Welcome. This guide takes a brand-new user from a fresh sign-in to entering real farm figures in about 30 minutes. It is written for the person setting up the farm for the first time.

Everything here happens under your own subdomain ({slug}.poultrydesk.com). For a one-page map of where each screen lives, see the Navigation cheat-sheet.

Before you start

You need three things:

  • The web address for your organization: {slug}.poultrydesk.com.
  • Your sign-in email and password (or an invite link if someone invited you).
  • A phone. That is enough for daily entries and full setup, including your organization, team, roles, and notification settings. A laptop is optional and handy for large reports.

You do not need to install anything. PoultryDesk runs in the browser. On a phone you can add it to your home screen for an app-like experience, but that is optional.

The 30-minute setup, in order

Start at /onboarding. Until the first real capture, Get started keeps the Site, House, Lot, capture, and team path in order. After that capture, the same page becomes Setup center. It reports daily, team, and Finance readiness separately, so an optional price book, partner, or tax register does not make a healthy small farm look unfinished.

The main setup areas work like tabs. Open Foundation, Daily operations, or Financial setup to see its checklist and the exact screen for each task. After you save a linked setup form, PoultryDesk returns you to the same tab so you can continue. Review-only screens show Back to setup instead.

When every item in the current tab is ready, use Next: ... to move forward. The final completed tab shows Finish setup and returns you to Home.

Home shows the same required-task progress while setup remains. The nudge reports how many tasks are complete, how many remain, and the next task in Setup center order. Optional commercial controls are not counted as unfinished requirements. After appearing, the nudge stays out of the way for seven days. Choose Remind me in 30 days when you need more time; your checklist progress is unchanged. While the reminder is waiting, owners can use Continue setup in Home's Quick actions panel. The shortcut disappears when required setup is complete.

1. Sign in and check the organization profile

Confirm the organization name, contact details, time zone, and currency at /settings/organization and /settings/finance. These feed dates and money formatting everywhere else, so get them right once, now. The subdomain is fixed and cannot be changed later.

2. Build your locations

Your flocks are placed inside poultry houses, so the physical structure comes first. Create your sites (farms or premises), then add the poultry houses inside each site. Enter each house's capacity and floor area accurately - area is used later to split shared costs fairly.

3. Invite your team and set roles

Invite people and give each the narrowest role that lets them work: Worker for farm staff who enter daily production figures, Manager for someone who runs the farm day to day, and Owner for the one or two people who run the business and billing. Roles are enforced on the server, never just hidden in the UI.

4. Add your first flock or egg set

Choose Place a Lot and add a broiler flock, layer flock, or hatchery egg set to one of your houses. PoultryDesk uses Lot as the common name for these managed groups. Enter its placement date and bird count. This becomes the baseline for mortality, feed conversion, and cost per bird.

5. Enter your first daily figures

This is the habit that makes everything else work. From a phone in the poultry house, record mortality, feed, and (for layers) eggs. When you submit, the entry saves on the device immediately and shows a queued badge - you do not wait for the network. It syncs in the background when a connection is available.

6. Record the money

Record a sale and an expense. For a cost shared across several flocks, pick an allocation method and let the engine split it.

The Setup center shows one next mission only when your role can open the linked screen. Finance setup checks posting defaults and one real projected Sale or Expense. Customers, suppliers, price books, and tax controls remain optional until your workflow needs them.