The Manufacture and Evaluation of a Local Incubator Performance for Hatching Poultry Eggs

The experimental work was carried out to manufacture and evaluate the performance of a local incubator for hatching poultry eggs to attain great production efficiency in a sustained manner, increasing the quality and quantity of production. The manufacture incubator consists of the humidification and turning units, the control panel and the hatchery box. The performance of the fabricated incubator was studied according to the following parameters: Three different levels of temperature (37, 37.5, and 38°C); two different measurements of humidity (50 and 55%); and two different levels of egg turning (12 and 24 times per day). The performance of the fabricated incubator was evaluated taking into account the following indicators: incubator efficiency, incubator productivity, and operational cost. Experimental results showed that the suitable operating parameters for hatching poultry eggs using the manufactured incubator were: temperature of 37.5°C, humidity of 55%, and turning of 24 times per day, which recorded the highest incubator efficiency (hatching ratio) and incubator productivity; minimum energy required; and operational costs of 98.44%, 12 chick/day, 14.58 W.day/chick and 1.24 L.E./chick, respectively, also gave the highest of the production chicks quality.