ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR POULTRY EGG INCUBATOR TO SUIT SMALL FARMER

Abstract

A small poultry incubator was designed and constructed at the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute. It was fabricated to be very cheep and very simple, so it may be utilized to produce a chick for a small farmer. The incubator was fabricated from local materials like wood, automatic thermostat to maintain the temperature at 37 0 c and an electric heater. The incubator capacity was 60 eggs. During the experiment, the temperature, air velocity inside the incubator, egg surface temperature, and power used were recorded. The main objectives of this research is to calculate the energy needs to produce a chick and develop a mathematical model for the incubator introduced. From the experimental data recorded and calculated, it was found that the heat generated from the electric heater measured as 4.55 kw, the heat generated from respiration of embryo calculated as 2.58 kw, the heat losses from walls of incubator 0.86 kw, the heat losses from the orifices 3.055 kw. The heat which was used to evaporate water (2.48 kw) was calculated as heat losses. Then, the net heat (2.16 kw) and heat rejected (2.387 kw). From the previous data, the cost of chick was 1.68 pounds (including the incubator fabrication, the egg price and cost of heat consumption) .