1.0 Introduction
The Bird (Chicken) Incubator is an electronic device used in poultry farms for hatching chicks or birds that are enclosed within the shell of an egg. It is also used to hasten the rate at which the egg will hatch (i.e. 21 days).
Bird Incubators can also be used to protect the eggs from excessive touching and keeps the eggs at 55% relative humidity and at 37.5oC (99.5oF) which are the necessary and right conditions meant for natural and proper hatching.
Bird Incubator is an artificial way of incubating the eggs of a bird or chicken if the chicken (bird) is “unwilling” to incubate the eggs laid by it.
For the purpose of this project it is necessary to discuss the various forms of incubators which are available today and they are discussed here under;
- Home incubator
- Commercial incubator
- Automatic incubator
1. Home Incubator:
This type of incubator are made from boxes which can hold from half a dozen to close to 75 eggs. They are electrically powered with a miniature circuitry connected to a coil underneath. When it is powered, it flows through the circuitry heating up the coil. At the desired temperature, a relay cuts off the source of supply so as to prevent excessive heat from damaging the egg.
As the name implies, it can be used at a very small scale especially at home or a poultry farm of not more than 5 — 10 chickens such that as soon as the eggs are laid, they are transferred to the incubator.
2. Commercial Incubators:
Commercial incubators are the industrial sized type of incubator with shelves holding tens of thousands of eggs at a time. This type of incubators follows an automated incubating process such that it mimics the natural process. By natural process, this means the incubating hen in a poultry has to use its beak to turn the eggs several times a day so as to settle the eggs in its correct hatching position.
But here, rather than a chick being involved in the turning process, the operator of the commercial incubator used the computer which is connected to a robotic arm to turn the eggs in its correct hatching position.
3. Automatic (Automated) Incubator:
As the name implies automatic or automated; it also works as the commercial incubators only that in its incubating process it is totally different and exceptional. It can also hold thousands of eggs and its incubating process takes a shorter or lesser time.
The Automated incubator has in every shelf a laser. The function of the laser is to monitor which of the eggs is ready for hatching or which of the eggs has started its hatching process. At every second or minute (depending on the construction and design of the incubator) the laser passes from one end of the shelf to the other end checking for eggs which has began its hatching process.
Once the egg has been detected, the laser sends an ultrasonic signal back to its circuitry which is made up of a central microprocessor or micro-controller. The signal is picked up from micro-controller or processor and sent to a robotic arm; the robotic arm goes to the exact position of the egg which is getting ready to hatch or trying to hatch picks it up gently and turns the egg thereby hatching or increasing the rate at which the particular egg will hatch.
Although for the purpose of this project we are using a microcontroller to control the temperature such that as it gets to that particular temperature of 40oc, for the artificial hatching process to begin.
This material contains electrical diagrams, circuits, illustrations and more (Very detailed)
…
