Getting started with AviLedger

Set up the aviary

Start with the physical layout: rows, then cages within each row. Matching the app to the way you already walk the birdroom means a weigh-in or a nest check takes a couple of taps rather than a search.

Add your birds

Each bird carries its ring or band number, species, mutation, sex, hatch date, cage and row, owner and value, with photos if you want them. If your records already live in a spreadsheet, import it instead of typing: AviLedger reads .xlsx and .xlsm, matches your column headings, and recognises common mutation and trade names as it goes.

Species matters more than it looks. It is what lets the app schedule candling and hatch dates, and check chick weights against the right weaning weight, for 94 species across 17 families. Star the species you keep and they come first in the species picker. If yours is not listed, suggest it from the picker.

Record a pairing

Create the pair, then log eggs as they are laid. If you number your eggs, give each one its number and its own laid date, and if they go into an incubator, say which. Candling and expected hatch dates appear from each egg's laid date and the species' incubation period, so the dates you have been working out by hand are simply there. Check the pairing prediction first if you want to see the likely outcomes and the inbreeding coefficient before you commit.

When you mark an egg hatched, the app offers the chick's record there and then, with its parents taken from the pair that laid it.

Keep the paperwork with the bird

Add permits, ring series and CITES or TOPS records as you go, and set the expiry reminders. When a bird sells, its passport prints from the record you already keep.

Your records are yours to take with you. Export, on the Birds list or More, writes the whole aviary to one file, with a sheet each for the stock list, birds, pairs, eggs, finance, permits, the annual return and the rest.