By Eamonn Ryan with technical input from Dave Starkey, director: Keystar Industries
In a quiet hatchery in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, three million developing embryos depend on temperature stability within one-tenth of a degree.
facility’s day-to-day operations. © Plumbing Africa
conditions during hatchery operations.
At this level of biological precision, even the slightest fluctuation is not just a technical deviation, it is the difference between optimal hatchability and measurable financial loss.
Maintaining this level of control across hundreds of thousands of eggs is no small task. What makes this operation particularly remarkable is that the entire process is now governed by a locally engineered automation system, designed and programmed in South Africa by Keystar Industries, operating reliably in an environment challenged by power instability and loadshedding.
Managing the rapidly changing heat loads produced when thousands of chicks begin to hatch almost simultaneously requires more than conventional control systems. It requires adaptive environmental intelligence, software capable of responding to extreme biological and thermal dynamics in real time. That challenge became the catalyst for one of the most technically sophisticated hatchery control retrofits undertaken in the region.
Keystone Hatcheries, one of the region’s large-scale poultry incubation facilities, operates 24 industrial setters, each processing approximately 120 000 eggs per cycle. In an operation of this scale, even small improvements in environmental control can translate into significant annual gains in hatchability and profitability.
For years the facility relied on imported Scandinavian electronic control systems. While technically advanced, these systems became increasingly difficult to maintain due to high replacement costs, exchange rate volatility and limited local technical support. The solution was ambitious: replace the ageing imported platform with a locally engineered PLC-based automation system that could deliver equal or greater precision while improving reliability in South Africa’s challenging electrical environment.
Working in partnership with Eliwell (by Schneider Electric), Keystar Industries developed a new control architecture built around Eliwell Free Advance PLCs combined with Schneider Electric industrial interface hardware (HMI). While the hardware is globally sourced, the real innovation lies in the locally developed software architecture and control algorithms.
The incubation process takes place over a 21-day cycle, during which developing embryos require tightly controlled environmental conditions. Temperature must remain stable within ±0.1°F, a remarkably narrow range essential for healthy embryo development.
and regulating incubation conditions.
The poultry industry traditionally measures incubation temperature in Fahrenheit because the scale allows finer control resolution than Celsius.
But temperature is only one part of a complex biological equation. Within each setter, the system must carefully regulate relative humidity, oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide levels, airflow distribution and egg turning cycles.
Eggs are loaded into large incubation trolleys fitted with integrated hydronic cooling coils. Throughout incubation, these trolleys automatically tilt at regular intervals to simulate natural brooding behaviour, preventing embryo adhesion and ensuring uniform development. Behind the scenes, the PLC continuously monitors and adjusts environmental parameters to maintain optimal conditions.
Traditional PID (Proportional–Integral–Derivative) control strategies proved inadequate for the dynamic thermal conditions inside the hatchery.
As embryos develop, they generate increasing metabolic heat, and during the hatching phase thousands of chicks can begin producing heat simultaneously. The result is a rapidly shifting thermal load that can destabilise conventional control loops. To solve this, the engineering team developed a refined adaptive control algorithm based on PID principles but enhanced with improved damping and dynamic tuning. The system can now respond rapidly to sudden temperature changes without causing overshoot or oscillation, maintaining ultra-stable conditions even during peak biological activity.
A HATCHERY BUILT ON WATER:
Thermal management across the facility relies on an extensive hydronic heating and cooling infrastructure.
The hatchery operates eight industrial water chillers, configured with reverse-cycle heat pump capability. These units produce chilled water for cooling while simultaneously recovering heat for warming circuits, significantly improving overall energy efficiency. Redundancy is built into the system, with gas-fired hot water generation providing backup heating when required.
Water is distributed through zone-controlled pipe networks supplying the incubation trolleys. Each trolley connects automatically via articulated quick-connect valves, eliminating manual connections and simplifying operation.
Air-handling systems further stabilise the environment. Fresh air units incorporate pre-heating, pre-cooling, filtration and precision airflow control, maintaining positive pressure inside the hatchery to prevent contamination from dust or external particles.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the project came after the incubation process. Once chicks hatch, they are inspected, vaccinated through automated spray systems, and packed into crates for delivery to farms across the region. Traditionally, the precise environmental control achieved during incubation ends at the loading bay.
Keystar’s engineers saw this as a critical vulnerability.
Day-old chicks are extremely sensitive to environmental stress. Poor ventilation, temperature swings or oxygen shortages during transport can undo the biological advantages gained during incubation. The solution was to create mobile environmental control systems that extend hatchery-level precision into the transport fleet.
Each delivery vehicle now functions as a mobile environmental chamber. Temperature is controlled through gas heating and evaporative cooling systems, while oxygen levels are maintained using motorised air dampers and variable-speed ventilation fans. Optional ammonia monitoring can detect waste-gas accumulation during transit.
The system continuously balances airflow, oxygen concentration and temperature, a complex task when external conditions may range from midday heat to winter temperatures below -5°C in the Midlands.
To further enhance operational control, each vehicle transmits live telemetry data back to the hatchery. Transport managers can monitor:
• Internal temperature conditions
• Environmental trends
• Door openings
• Ventilation performance
Upon arrival at the destination farm, a complete environmental history can be presented, confirming that welfare conditions were maintained throughout the journey.
Conclusion:
The impact of the retrofit has been significant. Keystone Hatcheries has reported measurable improvements in hatchability, which at this scale represents a substantial annual financial gain.
Equally important, the facility has dramatically reduced its dependence on imported electronics, lowering maintenance costs and improving operational resilience.
Because the control panels are now assembled locally by Keystar Industries, spare parts and technical support are readily available, a major advantage in a country where supply chains can be unpredictable.
The Keystone Hatcheries project demonstrates how locally developed engineering solutions can successfully replace expensive imported systems in highly specialised industrial environments.
By combining advanced PLC control, adaptive environmental algorithms, hydronic thermal management and mobile monitoring technologies, the project has created a resilient and scalable automation platform tailored to South African operating conditions.
And perhaps most importantly, it proves that innovation in agriculture is no longer confined to genetics or feed efficiency. Sometimes, it begins with one-tenth of a degree.
© Plumbing Africa