MacFarlane Pheasants burns through a lot of feed every year. We’ve been working on our ordering system to make it as easy as possible and reduce the possibility of mistakes. Here’s what we’ve found.
Our managers turn in their feed orders to Chris Theisen, our production manager. Chris knows the codes, and he makes sure they match up with the descriptions of the feed. Believe it or not, there are many types of feed, depending on the age and species of the birds being fed. Chris then turns in the order to our suppliers through email. We used to just call them in, but email is more precise and helps prevent miscommunication.
In the email we include both the code and the description of the feed, even though our supplier only needs the code. This protects us, since our supplier will contact us if the code and description don’t match. If there’s a mismatch, they’ll give us a call.
Once the feed company gets the order, they send back a confirmation email, which tells us when we can expect it. This also gives us written documentation of the order in case something goes wrong. In the past, sometimes the wrong type of feed gets delivered. An electronic paper trail helps us make things right if something goes wrong.
When the feed arrives, the drivers give us the paperwork, which includes the weigh tickets. We compare these with the invoice to make sure we got what we paid for. All the paperwork is put together and we file it away.
One thing we do to further reduce the possibility of a mistake is to set up guidelines with our suppliers. Our white pheasants get a different type of food than our ringnecks. We’ve set up rules for our suppliers that only certain types of food can be delivered to certain farms. If we accidentally order the wrong food for a farm, our suppliers will be alerted. This is just one final way we make sure the right food goes to the right place.
Ordering feed for pheasants is a simple task that can have a lot of problems. These are the procedures and protocols we follow to ensure the correct feeds gets fed to the correct birds.
