DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF AN AUTOMATIC EGG INCUBATOR

ABSTRACT DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF AN AUTOMATIC EGG INCUBATOR

The automatic egg incubator was designed and fabricated using available construction materials to reduce cost. The equipment was tested using freshly laid eggs obtained from Aroma agricultural farm limited. Considering the following conditions; Heat requirement that ranged from 37.60⁰ C to 38.02⁰C provided by a heating element; Humidity requirement that ranges between 60% to 80%  supplied by pans of water with specific surface area; ventilation requirement for providing the necessary oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide which is enabled by a fan and vent holes and the turning mechanism which ensures that the

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the egg is slanted 45⁰ from rest. This is initiated by an electric motor and it is done to prevent the embryo from sticking to the eggshell.  The result of the test showed that the efficiency of the machine is 70%. Out of about ten (10) eggs, seven hatched at exactly twenty-one (21) days, while two hatched after 21 days, one was not hatched at all. Based on the natural method of hatching which is 21 days of incubation, the equipment performed credibly well. This equipment when fine-tuned will serve the purpose of small scale farmers who cannot afford the expensive imported model. Secondly, because of the indigenous technology involved, the maintenance will not be a problem.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Content                                                                                                               Page

Title page                                                                                                                i

Approval page                                                                                                        ii

Certification                                                                                                           iii

Dedication                                                                                                              iv

Acknowledgment v

Table of content                                                                                                      vi

List of figures                                                                                                          ix

Abstract                                                                                                                    x

Chapter One

1.1 Background of study                                                                            1

1.2 Statement of Problem                                                                                 3

1.3 Aim and Objectives                                                                                    3

1.4 Scope and Limitation                                                                                 4

1.5 Significance of study                                                                            4

Chapter Two

2.1 Historical Development                                                                              5

2.2 History of Poultry                                                                                       6

2.3 Psychrometry of the Incubation Process                                                     8

2.4 Existing  Models                                                                                           10

2.5 Classification of Incubators                                                                         10

2.6 The Working Principle of Incubator                                                           12

2.6.1 The Forced-Air Incubator                                                                        12

Chapter Three

3.1 Theoretical Considerations                                                                          15

3.2 Mathematical Model of an Incubator                                                           15

3.3 Material Selection                                                                                        17

3.4 Design Approach and Main Features                                                          19

3.5 Determination of the thickness of Insulation                                               20

3.6 Roller Frame width dimensioning                                                              23

3.7 Bill of Engineering and Estimates of Materials                                           28

Chapter Four

4.1 Performance of the Incubator                                                                      30

4.2 Description of the Assembled parts                                                            30

4.3 Dimension of the Assembled parts                                                                34

4.4 Effect of Temperature and Humidity on the Incubating Egg                       34

4.5 Quality of Design                                                                                        37

4.6 Economic Consideration                                                                            37

Chapter Five

5.1 Conclusion                                                                                                      38

5.2 Recommendations                                                                                        38

5.3 Care and Maintenance of the Incubator                                                       39

References                                                                                                          41

Appendix 1                                                                                                      44

Appendix 2                                                                                                       45

Appendix 3                                                                                                       46

Appendix 4                                                                                                      47

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 3.1:    Front view of the roller frame

Fig 3.2:     Roller frame length dimensioning

Fig 3.3:     Egg Tray

Fig 3.4:     Length of Egg

Fig 3.5:     Circumferential rotation of Egg

Fig 3.6:     Determination of the thickness of insulation

Fig 4.1      The circuit diagram

Fig 4.2(A) The turning mechanism

Fig 4.2(B)  Physical orientation of an Egg

Fig 4.3      The graph of the performance of the temperature regulator

Fig 4.4      The graph of the performance of the temperature regulator

Fig 4.5      The graph of the performance of humidity

APPENDIX

Plate 1         Men at work part 1

Plate 2         Men at work part 2

Plate 3         Isomeric picture of the Incubator

Plate 4         Fabricated Machine

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

In a modern society like ours, birds are reared for two reasons; as pets and a source of food. As pets, they are needed for the company of man and his comfort, but more seriously, we keep birds for the purpose of obtaining meat from them. The food referred to here implies the meat we eat from them (which has become an essential part of every home today) and the eggs hatched by them for either consumption by man or for continuity in the life cycle of birds(Abiola, 2009).

From the foregoing, birds are very important to man necessitating the need to maximize their production. As a source of food, it’s rearing in large quantities can sustain the economy of a country by providing an adequate supply of eggs and meat for both domestic consumption and export to other neighboring countries who are in dare need with a limited supply (Akinyosove, 2010). This is a way of generating income to the country thereby improving the economy of the nation. This is the more reason why attention should be given to the adequate production of chicks in large quantities.

The act of rearing birds dates back to the history of man. Naturally, in our society, we depend solely on natural hatching of eggs under a hen. This takes a maximum of 12 to 15 eggs for a set of hatching which normally does not occur more than three times a year. This is highly inefficient and cannot meet up with the increasing need for eggs and meat in a society with a high population like ours. Even though it is possible to separate the hen from chicks immediately after hatching, the hen is likely to stay up to 14 days before a new set of eggs are laid. This creates a kind of discontinuity in meat production and such delay can lead to a shortage in the protein requirement of the society (Adewumi et al, 2015).

In our rural areas, a lot of hens lay eggs in good numbers but only a few are hatched due to the low efficiency of natural hatching, especially during the heavy rains and harmattan periods, and due to diseases which cause insufficiency in the number of chicks (Adewumi et al, 2015). All these now make a conservative approach in poultry farming to ensure high productivity and minimize losses common to the primitive methods of poultry keeping (Abiola, 2009).

Then it was found that if a number of eggs were put in some form of box, and heat was applied fairly evenly across the eggs, at the end of three weeks, a small percentage of the eggs would be able to hatch. And hence, most if not all incubators are built based primarily on the constant temperature hatching principle.

This automated incubator employs the electricity for its heating and turning of eggs thereby eliminating the old method of opening the incubator to turn the eggs by slanting with hand opposite to the position which it had earlier been placed. This new model of the incubator will avoid manual labor from the poultry farmer, ensure high efficiency by constant closure of the incubator (the guard against heat loss due to opening) and heat supply. This surely will give a healthy chick, which is a product of good incubating conditions.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Day-old chicks are in short supply in Nigeria and some parts of West Africa due to an inadequate number of hatchers. In Nigeria, it has received little attention and because of this most of the local farmers adopt the traditional method of hatching of birds. The need for a mechanized form of hatching necessitated the design and fabrication of an automatic egg incubator. This would reduce the drudgery of the traditional hatching method which though are quite efficient, but are rather uneconomical in scale.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to design and fabricate an automatic egg incubator at a low cost using available materials in our local environment to enable the populace to have access to eggs at a cheap and affordable price at any given time.

The specific objectives include;

1. To design and fabricate an affordable automatic egg incubator of 60 eggs capacity.
2. To test the incubator and determine the efficiency of the automatic egg incubator.

1.4 Scope and Limitation  

This work is limited to the design and fabrication of an automatic egg incubator with a turning mechanism, to produce 60 day-old chicks in one batch.

1.5 Significance of the study

The significance of this study is to promote and encourage the production of eggs by providing a machine that will increase the scale in the egg production process at an affordable rate.

This project will increase the local content of machines produced in our local environment and therefore reduce the rate of importation of machines and consequently reduction in cost.