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Development of an Automatic Bird Egg Incubator

Research · October 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32036.99202

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 Research & Reviews: A Journal of Embedded System & Applications
ISSN: 2395-6712 (Online), ISSN: 2321-8533 (Print)
Volume 5, Issue 1
www.stmjournals.com

Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg Incubator

Shittu S.1, Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad2, Muyideen Jimoh3, Abubakar Sani Muhammad4,
Jimoh N. Olasunkanm*5
1
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
2
Department of Computer Engineering, Kano State Polytechnic, Kano, Nigeria
3
Department of Electrical Engineering, Bayero University Kano, Kano Nigeria
4
Department of Electrical Engineering, Kano State Polytechnic, Kano Nigeria
5
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract
This study developed an automatic egg incubator and hatchery system with automated
humidity and temperature control. The performance evaluation of incubator and hatchery
system was carried out. This was with a view to develop an improved incubator system that is
capable of hatching large number of chicks at a time and also attaining high hatchability. The
main heating elements are three sets of 60 W bulbs used to provide the warmth needed in the
incubator. Data from the sensors was processed by the PIC16F877A and the various control
elements were activated to moderate the conditions in the incubator (using C codes). The
system was powered by electricity from the national grid. The incubator system developed was
tested, and temperature and humidity reading on hourly bases were plotted. The graph
obtained shows that the incubator will perform its desired function of hatching eggs
effectively, because the temperature and humidity range were within the required range of 37–
38°C and 32–35% respectively.

Keywords: Incubator, bird egg, hatchery, hatchability, microcontroller

*Author for Correspondence E-mail: nureni85@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION years. For the world’s growing population,

Egg incubator is one of the inventions that
provide opportunity especially for those who
want to be excellent farmers. The system will
automatically control the temperature and
humidity of the incubator for various types of
eggs. The function of egg incubator is to take
over the animal job to incubate an egg to
hatching. Eggs have been incubated by
artificial means for thousands of years.
Both, the Chinese and the Egyptians are
credited with originating artificial incubation
procedures. The world's population is growing
at an alarming rate and so is the demand for
protein, especially in the rural areas. Poultry is a
good source of protein and it is affordable [1].
A broody hen (a hen that wants to set and
hatch eggs and raise the chicks) can hatch just
about 10–12 eggs at once in 21 days, which
reduces its productivity as it takes time to
incubate and hatch the chicks. In contrast,
some large birds, such as condors and
albatross, may lay only a single egg every two
relying on this natural type of incubation is not
enough, hence the need for artificial
incubationThis way, a female bird just
concentrates on laying eggs while the
incubation is done for her artificially.
The system developed, consists of two parts,
the mechanical and electronic part. The
mechanical part was a mechanism for angular
tilting of the egg trays up and down
alternatively on hourly bases, using a DC
motor and limit switch sensor for angular
movement control. The electronic part
comprised of the PIC16F877A, DHT11
sensor, and LCD display.
The DHT11 from AOSONG is an integrated
humidity and temperature sensor that is used
to monitor the conditions inside the incubator.
Data from the sensors are processed by the
PIC16F877A and the various control elements
are activated to moderate the conditions in the
incubator.

RRJoESA (2017) 1-10 © STM Journals 2017. All Rights Reserved Page 1
Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg Incubator
RELATED WORKS
In an experiment by Yildirim to determine the
best temperature for hatching, he placed equal
number of eggs in four different incubators
with the temperatures set at 36.1, 37.2, 38.3
and 39.4°C from 18th day of incubation until
hatch [2]. Hatching time, hatchability rate and
the incidence of embryo malposition were
recorded as percentage of fertile eggs. The
highest mean embryonic heat production or
eggshell surface temperature occurred in the
hatching cabinets operated at 39.9°C and
lowest at 36.1°C. Eggs incubated at 37.2 and
38.3°C had a significantly higher hatchability
than the other treatment groups.
Another study was done by Abiola et al. to
determine the effect of frequency of egg
turning on hatchability [1]. Eggs that were
turned thrice daily produced highest
hatchability of 72.90%. Embryonic mortality
occurred in all the treatments, but early
embryonic mortality was highest (70.85%) for
eggs turned twice daily, while late embryonic
mortality was highest (66.65%) for eggs that
were not turned at all, but hatching occurred in
the three zones of the egg.
In this research work, a cost-effective
embedded model of a bird egg incubator was
developed that contains a smart sensor for
monitoring temperature and humidity. It was
incorporated with mechanical egg tilting
mechanism for tilting the eggs at an angle of
450 alternatively on hourly basis. The
advantage of this incubator system is that it is
cheap and consumes less energy (200 W).
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The materials that were used in the
development of this incubator can be divided
into two parts, namely: electrical and non-
electrical materials. The electrical materials
include the microcontroller, bi-directional DC
motor (with high torque), DHT11 temperature
and humidity sensor, limit switch sensor,
relays, low-speed axial fans, high density
cables, LCD display, current driver, 60 W
electric bulb, and electronic switches. For the
non-electric components, the materials
include: aluminum sheet, good heat insulation
material for lining the inside of the incubator
to prevent heat loss, plastic egg crates, basket,
and metal frames.
RRJoESA (2017) 1-10 © STM Journals 2017. All Rights Reserved
Shittu et al.
Embedded Computer Based Incubator
Model
The incubator was built with PIC16F877A as
the main controller. It is made up of a metallic
incubator cage (Figure 1) and insulated to
prevent heat loss to the environment. The
incubator chamber was spacious enough to
accommodate about 500 eggs. Four ventilation
holes of diameter 4 in were carved behind the
incubator at the bottom and top. These four
holes at the top and bottom were fitted with
12 V DC fans for removal of CO2 and injection
of fresh air containing O2 respectively, at a
regular interval, to ventilate the incubator
chamber.
Fig. 1: Incubator System.
In this work, two parts, the mechanical and
electronic part were developed. A diagram
showing the different components of the
system is shown in Figure 2. The mechanical
parts which are made up of a mechanism for
angular tilting of the egg trays up and down
alternatively on hourly basis, at an angle of 45˚
to the horizontal was fabricated, using metal
frames as shown in Figure 3. It also includes a
12 V/6 A DC motor and limit switch sensor
for tray movement control.
The DC motor is a simple closed loop control
that sends a feedback signal to the controller
(PIC16F877A) when the limit switch is
pressed (that is when the motor has tilted the
egg trays to an angle of 45˚), and the motor is
stopped on receiving the feedback from the
limit switch sensor. The electronic part
comprised of the PIC16F877A microcontroller
(which is the controller), DHT11 sensor, LCD
(Liquid Crystal Display) and the various
control elements (electric bulbs and heat
distributor fan, motor, humidifier, and
ventilation fan). Incubator control unit has
been shown in Figure 4.
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Research & Reviews: A Journal of Embedded System & Applications
Volume 5, Issue 1
ISSN: 2395-6712 (Online), ISSN: 2321-8533 (Print)

Fig. 2: System Diagram.

internal 8 bit ADC that converts the measured

temperature and humidity variable to digital
form. It operates on a power supply of 3.5–5 V
and features a wide temperature and humidity
range of 0–50˚C (required temperature is
between 37 and 38˚C) and 20–90% (required
humidity is 30–75%) respectively. For
precision, accuracy and speed of response
required, it features an accuracy of ±4% for
humidity and ±2˚C for temperature, resolution
of 1% for humidity and 0.1˚C for temperature,
and an average sensing period of 1 sec.

The various control elements in the incubator

Fig. 3: Incubator Tilting Mechanism.
DHT11 sensor from AOSONG is an 8 bit
digital sensor that employs digital signal
acquisition technique for digitizing the
temperature and humidity output. It measures
both temperature and humidity and it has an
chamber are: three 60 W electric bulbs and
12 V/5 mA heat distributor, humidifier, and
ventilation fans. The humidifier fan, heat
distributor fan and ventilation fan are of the
same types. The 60 W electric bulb generates
the heat needed in the incubator chamber and
the heat distributor fan distributes the heat
uniformly in the incubator chamber by
convection. The humidifier comprises of a fan

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Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg Incubator Shittu et al.

fixed, blowing over a pan of water to generate
and distribute the required humid air in the
incubation chamber. The ventilation fan
ventilates the incubation chamber to ensure
removal carbon dioxide and replacement of
used oxygen.
The first thing after start up is to select and
input the bird type to incubate. The
microcontroller will then automatically load
incubation period (number of days taken to
hatch), temperature and humidity set points of
that particular type of bird, and stores it in the
microcontroller’s memory. The DHT11 sensor
then measures the temperature and humidity in
the incubator chamber. The microcontroller
compares these measured parameters with the
set points (temperature and humidity set
points) to see if it corresponds with the
acceptable temperature and humidity range.

Acceptable temperature range is between 37

Fig. 4: Incubator Control Unit.
and 380 C while the humidity range is between
30 and 35%. The heater and humidifier fan are
turned on or off by the controller to maintain
temperature and humidity within the
acceptable range. Block diagram of
temperature control system is shown in
Figure 5; and block diagram of humidity
control system is shown in Figure 6.

Fig. 5: Block Diagram of Temperature Control System.

Fig. 6: Block Diagram of Humidity Control System.

Fig. 7: Picture Showing the Status Condition of the Incubator.

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Research & Reviews: A Journal of Embedded System & Applications
Volume 5, Issue 1
ISSN: 2395-6712 (Online), ISSN: 2321-8533 (Print)
Ventilation fans also controlled by the
controller are placed at strategic positions to
ensure regular removal of contaminated air
(carbon dioxide breath out by the embryo in
the egg) and in flow of fresh air. At regular
intervals (every hour), the controller tilts the
eggs by issuing control signal to the motor.
Status condition (temperature and humidity in
the incubator chamber) of the incubator is
displayed on the LCD screen as shown in
Figure 7.
Embedded System Design
In developing the system shown in the
Figure 1, certain factors such as cost,
availability, simplicity, functionality and
reliability of components were considered.
The implementation of this system consists of
two parts. These are the software and hardware
design considerations. For proper functionality
of the system, these two parts must be in
congruence with each other. The hardware and
software are discussed as follows.
Electronic Design
The electronic part consists of the following
sub units; the microcontroller unit, the sensor,
display, user interface, the current drivers
(ULN2003A), control elements, and the GSM
modem unit. These units are discussed in the
following sections.
Fig. 8: User Interface Circuitry.
RRJoESA (2017) 1-10 © STM Journals 2017. All Rights Reserved
The Sensor Unit
To design this unit, the accuracy, availability,
and cost of the sensor to be used was put into
consideration. To make the design cost
effective and more reliable, an integrated
sensor that has the capability to measure both
temperature and humidity was selected. This
makes the design better as compared to
previous designs which made use of separate
sensors to measure temperature and humidity.
The DHT11 sensor is used for this unit due to
its size, ease of handling, soldering and
availability in the local market as compared to
the SHT sensor family (although this may be
more accurate). The DHT11 sensor features a
temperature and humidity sensor complex with
a calibrated digital signal output [3].
The User Interface 1
The user interface offers a medium through
which the operator interacts with the system. It
consists of three switches for selecting the
types of bird eggs to incubate as shown in
Figure 8. The controller then saves the
incubation parameters for the egg type
selected. These parameters include
temperature, humidity, and incubation period.
The user interface also consists of the display
unit which is an LCD lm016L. It provides a
means for interaction between the operator and
the system during setting[4-6].
Page 5
Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg Incubator
Fig. 9: PIC16F877A Microcontroller.
The Microcontroller Unit
The microcontroller controls and coordinates
the activities of the incubation system based
on the program written for it. The
PIC16F877A microcontroller from microchip
was selected for this research project.
The following criteria were considered in
selecting this microcontroller for the system:
cheapness and possession of large number of
input/output pins; presence of three timers, of
which two were utilized, one for interrupt and
the other for real-time clock operation;
possession of large program memory up to
8 k; it is 8 bit which is a good choice for
interfacing with the DHT11 sensor (an 8 bit
sensor); wide operating voltage range 2.0–
5.5 V; high sink/source current 25 mA [7-9].
Thus the microcontroller PIC16F877A shown
in Figure 9, which satisfies the necessary
conditions for the task, was chosen.
The Real Time Clock Unit
The real time clock (RTC) unit provides real
time measure which the microcontroller uses
to maintain the incubation period of the egg.
The real time clock was implemented in
software.
RRJoESA (2017) 1-10 © STM Journals 2017. All Rights Reserved
Shittu et al.
The Current Driver, Control Elements and
Power Supply Unit
The microcontroller cannot directly drive the
relay to which the controls are connected to
because, it can only source a maximum of
25 mA and could not supply the required
current needed to drive the relay. Because of
the large number of control elements to be
driven, an integrated current driver which
could supply the required current was used. In
designing this unit, the switching current for
the relays was put into consideration.
Therefore a ULN2003A high voltage and high
current Darlington transistor array was used to
amplify the current. It was used because it
possesses the following features; maximum
output current of 500 mA and 50 V output
voltage, and it is suitable for relay driver
application. This specification meets the
requirement for switching the 30 A/12 V DC
relays used for switching the 0.15 A/12 V
humidifier/ventilation fans, 4 A/12 V DC
motors, 0.15 A/12 V heat diffusion fans, and
0.3 A/220 V bulb.
Software Design Considerations
The control program for the microcontroller
was written in C. It was debugged and
corrected for error using the MikroC
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Research & Reviews: A Journal of Embedded System & Applications
Volume 5, Issue 1
ISSN: 2395-6712 (Online), ISSN: 2321-8533 (Print)

integrated development environment (IDE)
and the machine code was finally transferred
to the chip using Pickit2 programmer[10].
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Data obtained in the process of testing the
incubator system with fertilized quail eggs are
presented in Table 1. The incubator system
was programmed to maintain ambient
temperature in the chamber in the range of 37–
38°C. The humidity was programmed for the
range of 30–35% during incubation and 32–
35% during hatching. For the whole
incubation period of 17 days (for quail eggs),
temperature and humidity readings in the
incubator chamber were taken on hourly bases.
The humidity in the incubator was increased
about three days to the end of incubation (after
day 14) in order to soften the eggs’ shells so
that the chicks can easily break the shells and
emerge from them, while the temperature
remained unchanged. Data was obtained for
the 17 days period and graphs of temperature
and humidity versus time for the whole
17 days was plotted [11]. The graphs in
Figures 10a and 10b shows the result obtained
for days one and two while Tables 1 and 2
show the data obtained for both days. As
mentioned earlier, the type of control used in
regulating the temperature and humidity in the
incubator system is an on-off control. This is
obvious from the shape of the graph. As
shown, the temperature fluctuates between the
two set points of 37 and 38˚C. The dead band
(which is the region around the set point in
which no control action occurs) is the region
between 37 and 38˚C. The width of the dead
band is 1˚C. Within this range, no control
action occurs because the heating element is
off. Temperature error is ±0.1°C while
humidity error is ±5%. It is seen that the
temperature is always within the required
range almost all the time. The same applies to
the humidity control, but in the case of
humidity control, the dead band is 5% which is
alright for the humidity required [12].

Table 1: Result of Day 1 Evaluation.

Day 1
Turning (0 at every 4 h)
Time (h) Temperature (0C) Humidity (%)
Clockwise (+) and Anti-clockwise (–)
1 38 34 45
2 38 35 –45
3 37 36 45
4 37 34 –45
5 38 35 45
6 38 34 –45
7 37 34 45
8 38 34 –45
9 38 34 45
10 38 34 –45
11 38 34 45
12 38 34 –45
13 38 34 45
14 38 34 –45
15 38 34 45
16 37 34 –45
17 38 34 45
18 37 34 –45
19 38 34 45
20 38 34 –45
21 37 34 45
22 38 34 –45
23 38 34 45
24 38 34 –45

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Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg Incubator Shittu et al.

Table 2: Result of Day 2 Evaluation.

Day 2
Turning (0 at every 4 h)
Time (h) Temperature (0C) Humidity (%)
Clockwise (+) and Anti-clockwise (–)
1 37 34 45
2 38 35 –45
3 38 35 45
4 38 34 –45
5 38 34 45
6 38 34 –45
7 37 35 45
8 38 34 –45
9 38 34 45
10 38 34 –45
11 38 34 45
12 38 34 –45
13 38 34 45
14 38 35 –45
15 38 34 45
16 38 34 –45
17 38 34 45
18 37 34 –45
19 38 34 45
20 38 34 –45
21 38 34 45
22 37 34 –45
23 37 34 45
24 38 34 –45

Temperature and Humidity graph for Day 1

39
Temperature (˚C) and Humidity (%)

38
37
36
35 Temperature

34 Humidity

33
32
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Time (hrs)

Fig. 10a: Temperature/Humidity versus Time Graph for Day 1.

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Research & Reviews: A Journal of Embedded System & Applications
Volume 5, Issue 1
ISSN: 2395-6712 (Online), ISSN: 2321-8533 (Print)

Temperature and Humidity graph for Day 2

39
Temperature (˚C) and Humidity (%)
38
37
36
35 Temperature

34 Humidity

33
32
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Time (hrs)

Fig. 10b: Temperature/Humidity versus Time Graph for Day 2.

Due to the change in time and ambient 2. Inclusion of stepper motor for better
temperature, it was discovered that humidity and angular movements of egg trays.
the temperature in the incubator chamber varies, 3. Inclusion of DC heater to avoid use of
so the lower the ambient temperature, the higher alternating current (AC).
the humidity and temperature in the incubator 4. Inclusion of an inverter as a backup power
chamber, but due to the action of the supply.
programmed integrated circuit, the internal 5. Possibility of establishing a solar powered
temperature of the incubator is maintained system.
between 37 and 38°C. Evaluation and test was
carried out, thus having result for days of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
testing, an average value of temperature was The present paper is mainly a part of first
obtained to be 37°C, average relative humidity author’s MSc. Thesis, being accomplished
value of 34% and average angle turned was 45°. during his MSc. Programme with support from
the other co-authors.
CONCLUSION
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Cite this Article
Shittu S, Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad,
Olasunkanm Jimoh N et al.
Development of an Automatic Bird-Egg
Incubator. Research & Reviews: A
Journal of Embedded System &
Applications. 2017; 5(1): 1–10p.
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