Kyambogo student makes low-cost egg incubator

From two large basins, a piece of blanket, a small dish, a small portable fan, a thermometer, wire-mesh and two 60 watt bulbs, 23 year old Robin Kibet has made an electric egg incubator.

The second year student of Bachelors of Vocational Studies in Agriculture with Education (BVS Agric/Ed) at Kyambogo University explains what inspired him to make the incubator.

"This technology is for small scale farmers at the village level, who cannot afford the expensive technologies on the market. If you have ten hens laying eggs all-over the place, some in the bush, this is the incubator," he says.

The incubator

"I decided to put everything I learnt in class in practice. With this simple technology, you can hatch your eggs at your convenience."

Everything in the incubator has a purpose. The blanket is for retaining moisture, while the thermometer gauges the temperature.

The small bowl in the incubator holds water which is a source of oxygen. The two bulbs are a source of heat.

 "When the fan rotates, it drives the hot air in the incubator. When I first tried out this experiment, I used one bulb; I then realized that the temperatures were low. The bulbs are the source of heat, and that is why we decided to have a second bulb," says the former student of Amanang SSS in Bukwo district.

Kibet says this technology does not cost beyond sh200,000, with the fan being the most expensive component of the incubator.