February
25, 2020
Piloting
the Smart Brooder System for Automation of Temperature Control
in Brooding Day Old Chicks:
2SCALE
recently rolled out the installation of Smart Brooder at Homerange
Poultry Kenya. This move is in line with the 2SCALE goal that
aims to ensure the adoption of eco-efficient production practices
for target commodities and in this case, the brooding process
for Homerange poultry.
Brooding
involves supplying chicks with supplemental heat and humidity.
During the first weeks of a chick’s life, heat is more
important than food. Ideally, a chick may seem fully grown
at the time of hatching. However, it is important to note
that some of its features like the thermoregulatory, gastro-intestinal
and immune system still need further development for the chick
to be fully mature.
How
the Smart Brooder works
The smart brooder is an environmental control device that
ensures the conditions in the brooding space are kept within
optimal levels. The device is composed of 2-4 temperature
sensors and 1 humidity sensor. These sensors take readings
throughout the brooding space and relay the data to a chip
which is programmed to determine the age of the chicks and
regulates the conditions in the brooding space accordingly.
This is very vital since as chicks age, their feathers as
well as environmental requirements change.
The
smart brooder is the brainchild of Arinifu, one of the entrants
of the 2SCALE digital innovation challenge. George Chege,
the Technical and Design lead who was in charge of the installation,
said that the smart brooder innovation services Arinifu’s
vision to enhance poultry farmer output by providing access
to new, affordable and efficient technologies. He further
added that at Arinifu they work with the farmers to understand
the challenges they face then tap into technology for solutions.
Ian
Mutwiri, the Business champion and CEO of Homerange Poultry
Kenya reiterated this by saying that the smart brooder is
going to address one of the pressing pain points of poultry
farmers since most of the flock losses occur in the brooding
stage. He further added, “The best part about it is
that once the system is running, even at night you are sorted.
It is a fantastic system and we look forward to adopting it
as a technology.”
Digital
innovation
Temperature is needed for survival of the chicks since they
do not have the mechanism to maintain their internal temperature
for their first few weeks. Humidity is important since it
determines the rate of growth of bacteria within the coop.
The device then uses Global System for Mobile Communications
(GSM) to convey data to the farmer. In case of any drastic
changes, the farmer is alerted via SMS. This also doubles
as an inclusive method since the farmer does not necessarily
need a smartphone in order to benefit from the smart brooder
technology. The smart brooder installation is on pilot and
its success at Homerange Poultry Kenya will see it being adopted
among other poultry farmers across Kenya under the 2SCALE
program.
For
further reading please visit https://www.2scale.org/en/updates/2scale-pilots-smart-brooder-at-homerange-poultry-kenya-en
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