Design and development of an electric egg incubator for industrial use

Abstract

An electric egg incubator developed using locally sourced materials is presented. The study aimed to produce a low-cost electric egg incubator to enhance the production of chicks for the poultry industry. The incubator comprised a body frame, turning mechanism, egg trays, humidity control pan, fan, heat source, and controls. The design and fabrication process of the egg incubator involved an appropriate selection of engineering materials for the various parts, design analysis, and calculations of the parts, detailed machine drawing using AutoCAD, parts fabrication, and assembling of the different components. The device was evaluated using percentage fertility and hatchability with 60 poultry chicken eggs. The test results showed 81.7% fertility and 58.3% hatchability at an incubation temperature range of 36.2 to 38. The unit cost of the incubator with a capacity of 60 eggs per production was ₦105,000. This study recommends incorporating a humidity sensory device for adequate humidity control, designing for a wider incubation temperature range for other poultry egg incubation and capacity improvement, and incorporating a solar power unit for a reliable supply.