Design of Chicken Feeding Tool Based on Feed Mass using a Microcontroller

Abstract

Feeding laying hens is one of the factors that affect the production of eggs. The appropriate feeding mass to achieve maximum egg production is 100 grams for each hen. To help out the feeding process, an automatic feed for hens system based on the feed mass will be designed. This system will be built by integrating the proximity sensor, relay, servo motor, and AC with a delay setup. The sensing of the proximity sensor is triggered by an object which is moved with the help of a servo motor with a certain delay that has been set up so it can sense the middle point of the stall fitly. The distance between stalls is 20 cm, when the sensor detects an object less than 20 cm, the relay will be off, and vice versa. The function of the relay is to connect and disconnect the current flow that affects the movement of the AC motor. Another servo motor was also installed in the feeding box to drop the feeds. To make the system able to drop the exact 100 grams of feeds for each hen, the delay for the servo motor has been set. In this system, the success parameters are the accuracy of the AC motor to stop right at the middle of each stall, the accuracy of feeds dropped by the system, and the accuracy of 180o servo motor opening. Based on the testing results, the error of the AC motor to stop is 3.5%, the average of dropped feed is 101,5 grams for each drop, and the error of 1800 servo motor opening is 1.5%. To compare the result of the feeding process by using the system and the manual process, three treatments of the experiment were also carried out, they are experimental feeding by weighing beforehand (PI), feeding with an estimated mass of feed (P2), and feeding using the built system (P3). Based on the experiments, the average weights of the egg production are 59.3 grams, 52.4 grams, and 60.6 grams by using the PI, P2, and P3 respectively. The comparison of egg production for 10 days can be seen in P2 and P3 which are 5.23 kg and 6.05 kg. The average feeding time for each treatment was also compared, the results are 34.4 seconds for PI, 9.73 seconds for P2, and 6.06 seconds for P3.