Dumsor does not check the hatch calendar, so the backup for your incubator has to be sized, wired and tested before the next setting goes in.
Halaal Farms Ghana team6 August 2026 · 13 min read
The lights go at a quarter to nine. The incubator's fan stops, the alarm light goes dark, and the room starts to cool at the pace of a room with no heat in it. Nobody in the hatch house is thinking about eggs. They are thinking about the phone, the fuel can and whether the neighbours have power.
A cut in the middle of a setting is one of the few emergencies a hatchery can plan for in full. The plan has to be in place before the outage, because during one nobody has the time to work it out. This article explains how we think about backup power for the incubators at Halaal Farms in Opeikuma, Kasoa, what each option does well and badly, and how to test a backup so it works on the night it is needed. We are not an electrical contractor, so the sizing and wiring decisions belong to a qualified electrician. What we can do is help you ask the right questions.
An incubator keeps eggs at about 37.5°C for 21 days. A heater and a thermostat do the holding, and a fan spreads the warmth so the eggs at the corners are not left behind. When the power goes, the heater stops and the temperature starts to fall. A closed, well-insulated machine holds its heat for a while. An open one loses it quickly, which is why the first rule of a cut is to keep the door shut.
How long a machine holds its heat depends on the model, the room temperature, how full it is and how well the door seals. We do not publish a hold time, because it differs from machine to machine. Ask the maker for the figure for your model, and test it once with the power off while you are watching, so you know what your machine does on a real night.
Timing matters as well. Embryos are sensitive to temperature in the early days, and a drop at that stage does different damage from a drop in the final days. A cut in the first week and a cut in the last three days are both serious, but for different reasons, and the log you keep after the hatch should note when the power went off. If the turner stops, the eggs stay in one position for as long as the cut lasts, which can matter too. The turner is part of the backup plan, not a luxury.
A cut also changes the room. The house cools, the humidity can drop if a water pan is left open, and the eggs in the machine are the last thing anybody checks. This is why the backup has to cover the whole machine, including the fan and the turner, and not just the heater.
Every backup starts with the load. Read the rating plate on the machine. It will show the power draw, usually in watts or kilowatts, and sometimes the current. Then list everything else that will run on the same supply: the turner, the fans, the alarm, any lights and the charger for a battery. Add it up on paper before you talk to any seller.
Two details catch people out. The first is the start-up surge. Motors and fans draw more power for a second or two when they start, and a generator or inverter that can carry the running load may still trip on the start. Ask the supplier to size for the surge as well as the running figure. The second is simultaneous running. The heater and the fan are not always on together, but in a power-cut emergency they often are, because the thermostat has been calling for heat for a while. Size for both at once.
Once you have the load, you can compare it with the output rating of a generator, or the battery and inverter capacity of a battery system. Generators are usually rated in kVA and inverters in watts, so do the conversion carefully or ask the seller to do it in front of you. Your electrician is the right person to confirm the sum.
There is no single right answer. The choice depends on how often the power goes, how long the cuts last, what fuel is easy to get, and how much attention someone can give the system. The table sets out the three most common routes. Prices change, so confirm the figures with your supplier.
| Option | Good for | Watch out for | Ask the supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol or diesel generator | Long cuts and larger loads, where the run time matters more than silence | Fuel supply and storage, noise, maintenance, and carbon monoxide if it is run indoors or near windows | Output rating, fuel use per hour, service interval, and whether it starts reliably after a long rest |
| Inverter with batteries | Short and frequent cuts, with automatic switchover and very little noise | Battery capacity sets the run time, batteries wear out and need replacing, and the charger must be correct | Battery size, how long it carries your full load, how the changeover works, and the warranty |
| Solar with battery storage | Ongoing savings on fuel and the power bill, and sites with good sun most of the year | Dust on panels in the harmattan, weaker output on cloudy rainy-season days, and battery sizing for the nights | Panel and battery sizes, expected output on a cloudy day, and how often the panels need cleaning |
Many farms run two options together. A battery inverter covers the first minutes of a cut and the switch to the generator, and the generator carries the load for the longer outage. That combination costs more to set up, but it removes the gap in the first minutes when the machine is most exposed. A voltage stabiliser or surge protector is worth fitting to protect the electronics from bad supply, but it is not a backup. It does nothing when the power is off.
A manual switch works fine if someone is awake and standing next to the machine. Dumsor does not wait for that. The cut can come at two in the morning, when nobody is near the hatch room, and an incubator that is waiting for someone to start a generator will have cooled for hours by then.
An automatic changeover switch, or an inverter that switches over on its own, is the safer choice for an incubator. It moves the load from the grid to the backup in a few seconds and moves it back when the power returns. Ask for a changeover device that is designed for this use and has been installed by a qualified electrician.
Never plug a generator into a wall socket and run a cable back into the mains. This is called back-feeding, and it is dangerous. It can injure the people repairing the lines outside and damage equipment in your neighbours' houses. Use a proper changeover switch or a transfer device, every time.
The backup that has never been tested is the one that fails. Most of the failures we hear about are not dramatic. The generator will not start because the battery is flat, the fuel is old, or nobody has run it since the last cut. The inverter runs, but the batteries are three years old. The changeover switch works in the daytime and jams at night.
Test it on a schedule. Once a week is a sensible minimum. Run the backup with the incubator on its normal load for a set period, and watch the readings while it runs. Test at dusk or in the evening, with the room lights off, because that is when a real cut will happen. A test in bright daylight tells you very little about what happens at night.
Keep the fuel store outside the hatch room and away from the chicks. Keep a torch with fresh batteries, a clean cloth and a spare thermometer where you can reach them in the dark.
When the power goes, the job is to keep the machine closed, check that the backup has taken over, and avoid making the problem worse. The steps below are short, because the time to think is before the cut.
When the power returns, do not assume the machine is back to normal. Check that the heater and the fan have settled, that the turner has restarted, and that the readings match the normal setting. Then confirm the backup has switched off or gone back to charging. A backup left running on a flat battery is the next emergency.
Dumsor is not a regular cut you can time. It can come in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon or at midnight, and some cuts are short while others last for hours. That is why we plan for the long one and not for the average. If the backup can only carry the machine for an hour, it will fail the day the cut lasts four.
Fuel is a practical question in Kasoa. Buy from a supplier you trust, check the quality, and keep a reserve in a sealed container away from the machine and the chicks. Old fuel is a common reason a generator will not start, so rotate the stock.
The harmattan brings dust into everything. Dust blocks air filters on generators, sits on solar panels and gets into the changeover switch. Clean the filters and the panels during the dry months, and expect less output from solar in dusty weeks. The rainy season brings the reverse problem, with long cloudy spells that cut solar output and leave batteries short of charge. A battery system sized for a sunny week may not be enough in June.
Security matters too. A generator on the premises is a target. Lock it down, keep the fuel store locked and tell only the people who need to know where the fuel is kept.
For the brooder side of the same problem, which covers the chicks after they leave the machine, read our guide to brooding through power cuts in Ghana. The incubator and the brooder need separate plans, even though the cause is the same.
Installing a generator, a changeover switch, an inverter or a battery bank is work for a qualified electrician. Ask to see their certificate or their references, and ask them to put the load sum in writing before they start. Do not let anyone wire a backup into your house wiring without a proper changeover device.
If the trouble is with your supply itself, such as a fault on the line or a meter problem, report it to the distribution company, the Electricity Company of Ghana, and keep a record of when you reported it. A written record is useful if you need to show how long the outage lasted.
The figures below are illustrative. They are worked from our current price list, to help you judge what a backup is worth. They are not a prediction of what your next setting will do.
A box of 50 broiler chicks is from GH₵1,000 on our list. A box of 50 Sasso chicks is from GH₵650. If a single failed night cost you a box of broilers, the value of a backup that carries the machine through that night is clear. The backup has a cost of its own, and the supplier can give you the current price, so set the two figures side by side before you decide.
Only if the inverter and its batteries can carry the full load for the time you need. Check the rating plate, include the start-up surge, and ask the supplier to size the system in writing. A household inverter sized for lights and a fan may not carry a heater.
Only if you have to, and only briefly. Every opening lets warmth out. Use a window or a viewing panel if your machine has one, and keep the door shut otherwise.
Run it outdoors, well away from windows, doors and vents, because the exhaust contains carbon monoxide. Never run it in a closed room or a store, and keep the fuel stored safely away from the machine and the chicks.
Once a week is a sensible minimum. Test in the evening, with the room lights off and the incubator on its normal load, and write each test in the log. A backup that has not been run for a month is a backup you cannot trust.
A backup gives you the time to get the next setting right, and the chicks you order from us come in ventilated boxes of 50 from our Opeikuma hatchery. An order starts with a message, not with money. Send the order form on our site or call 024 915 1503, and we confirm the price, the hatch date and the delivery cost before you pay. You can pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer, and chicks that arrive dead are replaced free in the next hatch. The minimum order is one box of 50.
Before you order, you may want to read our guide to hatchery hygiene, check the current prices or read how to order day-old chicks. Set the backup up first, test it, and then send the order.
Written by the Halaal Farms Ghana team. We hatch and import day-old chicks at Opeikuma, Kasoa, and deliver to all 16 regions. This article is general guidance for farmers. For diagnosis and treatment of sick birds, speak to a vet or your district veterinary office.
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