DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR POWERED POULTRY EGG INCUBATOR

Chick production from developing embryo is a profitable business in Nigeria due to the high demand of protein. The constantfailure of electricity supply in Nigeria obstructs operation of incubator and reduce its performance. This study developed solar powered poultry egg incubator. The dimension of the designed incubator was 610mm×607mm×1649mm with capacity of 150eggs. From the design calculation the sizes of the solar panel, charge controller, batteries and inverters required were 480W, 40A, 400AH and 2000W respectively. The heat loss through the walls by conduction, air convection and ventilation hole were 59.77, 10.9741 and 0.0003222W respectively The heat generated by 150eggs due to the metabolic activities was 21.9W. Out of the 146eggs loaded 64% of the eggs were fertile while the percentage of chicks that hatched, chicks with unabsorbed yolk, fully developed chicks but not hatched and banger were 44%, 40%, 13% and 3% respectively. All the embryos in the fertile egg developed to the last stage (21st day) of incubation period. The low hatchability may be as a result of the faulty hygrometer used which led to increase in the number of opening made at the last stage. The modification of the developed incubator would improve the efficiency of the incubator