Short answer: Clean the incubator after every hatch and before the next setting, not only when it looks dirty. Empty it, remove shell debris dry, wash with warm water and a neutral detergent, disinfect with a product sold for poultry and used as its label says, then dry the whole machine with the door open. Keep the controller and motors dry, replace sponges, and log every clean.
Key takeaways
- Clean after every hatch and before the next setting, and write the date in the log.
- Remove shell, membrane and fluff dry first. Wet debris turns into a glue that is hard to shift.
- Wash, rinse, disinfect, dry. Skipping the drying step leaves a damp machine that grows mould.
- Wipe the controller and motors. Never soak them, and never spray them directly.
- Replace sponges and wicks rather than cleaning them, and scrub the water trays every week in the hot months.
Why a machine gets dirty faster than you think
Every hatch leaves something behind. There are broken shell fragments, membranes, a little dried fluid, fluff from the chicks and the dust that rides in on your shoes and your hands. Inside a warm, humid cabinet those leftovers do not sit still. They rot, they feed bacteria and they grow mould in the corners where nobody looks.
The next batch inherits all of it. Chicks that go straight from a dirty machine into a clean brooder have already breathed in whatever was growing on the trays, and the first days are when they can least afford it. A clean incubator is not a tidy habit. It is the first line of defence for the batch that follows.
Ghana makes the job harder. Indoor temperatures in the hot months can feel very high, and warmth speeds up bacterial growth. Harmattan dust settles on everything and sticks to damp surfaces. In the rainy season the air is heavy and the walls stay wet longer. A machine that was clean in the dry season can need a proper clean after two or three hatches in the wet. Our explainer on how an incubator works shows which parts sit in the damp air and collect the most dirt.
When to clean, and what each clean covers
Cleaning works best as a schedule rather than a reaction. Growers who wait until the machine smells before they clean are usually a hatch behind. The table sets out a routine that fits a farm running settings every few weeks.
| Task | How often | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Full clean and disinfect | After every hatch, before the next setting | Trays, racks, walls, door seal, fan guard, water trays and the floor of the cabinet |
| Water tray scrub | Weekly during active use, more often in the hot months | Slime, algae and the rim where scum collects |
| Fan guard and vent wipe | Weekly in harmattan, every two weeks otherwise | Dust on blades, guard and vent openings |
| Sensor and probe check | Monthly | Dust on sensors, loose probes and cable clips |
| Room floor and walls | Monthly, or when the room is dirty | Dust, droppings, spilt water and insects around the machine |
The full clean is the one that matters most. The weekly and monthly tasks keep the machine from getting that bad, but the full clean is what removes the last batch from the cabinet. A clean machine is the starting point for the routine in our setting-day guide, so schedule the full clean before the day you plan to set.
Empty it and switch it off before you start
Unplug the machine first, not just the switch. Remove any eggs still in it, although by the time you clean, a machine should be empty anyway. Take out the trays, racks, water trays and turner rack, and set them on a clean surface where they can dry without touching the floor.
Take out the probes and the hygrometer if you can, and put them somewhere they will not get wet. Lift off the fan guard and set it aside. You will clean it separately, and a guard that is scrubbed with the rest of the machine will often go back on still damp.
Open the door fully, and leave it open for the whole of the work. A cabinet that is cleaned with the door shut gets wet inside and stays that way.
Remove the debris dry before any water goes in
This is the step most growers skip, and it is the one that makes the rest easy. Shell fragments and membranes that are wetted first turn into a paste that sticks to every corner. Brush or scrape everything dry first, using a soft brush, a stiff card or a dry cloth, and take the debris out of the machine rather than sweeping it into a corner.
Pay special attention to the corners, the edges of the trays and the gaps around the door seal. Those are where broken shell collects and where a little fluid dries into a crust. A small brush or an old toothbrush is good for the seal channel.
Put the debris straight into a bag and close it. Do not leave it on the floor while you work, because the dust it throws up will settle back onto the surfaces you have just cleaned.
Wash with warm water and a neutral detergent
Once the dry debris is gone, wash every surface with warm water and a neutral detergent. Warm water lifts fats and dried residue more easily than cold, and a neutral detergent does not leave a film that blocks the disinfectant that follows.
- Wash from the top of the cabinet down, so drips do not land on clean surfaces.
- Use a soft cloth or sponge on the walls and a small brush on the seal and corners.
- Avoid steel wool and abrasive pads on plastic, which scratch and hold germs in the scratches.
- Scrub the trays and racks separately, and rinse them with clean water.
- Rinse the detergent off every surface, because residue stops the disinfectant from working.
Keep the electrical parts out of the wash. The controller, the sensor cable connections and the turner motor should be wiped with a damp cloth and then dried, not sprayed or soaked. Water in a controller is the fastest way to turn a clean machine into a broken one.
Disinfect with a product used the way its label says
Once the machine is clean and rinsed, disinfect it. Most products sold for poultry farms fall into a few families: quaternary ammonium compounds, chlorine-based products, iodine-based products and peroxygen-based products. Each has its strengths and its weak points. Some corrode metal, some lose strength quickly in hard water, and some should never meet another cleaner.
Choose one product, read its label and use it at the strength and contact time the label gives. Contact time is the part most people shorten. A disinfectant wiped on and wiped off in a few seconds has not had time to kill anything, so leave it on the surface for the stated time before you rinse or dry. If the label asks for a rinse, rinse with clean water. If it does not, let it dry.
Never mix two products in the same bucket or spray bottle. Chlorine and acid-based cleaners release gases that can harm you, and a mix of chlorine and ammonia is dangerous. Keep each product in its own labelled container, and ventilate the room when you use any of them.
We do not describe fumigation in this article. Fumigating a machine is a different job with real risks to the people doing it, and it needs training and protective equipment. If you think your machine needs more than a wash and disinfect, ask your vet or your supplier to show you how it is done safely.
Dry the whole machine before the next setting
Drying is the step that decides whether the clean lasts. A damp cabinet grows mould within days in our climate, and a warm damp cabinet grows it fast. Leave the door open, run the fan if the machine has one and it is safe to do so, and stand the trays on their edges so air can reach both faces.
The machine is dry when the surfaces feel dry to the back of your hand, the corners have no damp smell and the inside walls look even. Do not judge it by the top alone. Check the seal, the gaps around the probes and the underside of the trays. In the rainy season, that can take a full day or more, so plan the timing of the next setting around it.
Do not put the trays back in while they are still damp, and do not put the water trays back until they are dry inside. A tray that goes back in wet gives the mould a head start on the next setting.
Water trays, sponges and wicks
The water trays and sponges are where contamination sits most comfortably, because they hold water and warmth all day. Treat them as consumables. Replace sponges and wicks at each full clean rather than washing them, because a sponge that has been used for weeks holds on to the slime even after it looks clean.
Scrub the trays with warm water and detergent, rinse them well and disinfect them with the same product you used on the cabinet. Never top up a dirty tray with fresh water and call it done. Slime that is left in the tray will grow again within a few days, and it will take the humidity readings with it.
If you are struggling to hold humidity, look at the trays before you change anything else. Our guide on fixing incubator humidity problems explains how to tell a cleaning problem from a humidity problem.
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The fan, the sensor and the motors
Dust on the fan blades changes the temperature and the humidity at the same time. The fan moves less air, the top runs hotter, and the water evaporates unevenly. Clean the guard and the blades every week during harmattan, using a dry brush first and a damp cloth second, and check that the blades turn freely by hand with the power off.
The sensor needs to be clean and in its right place. A thin layer of dust on a sensor can add a degree or two of lag, and a probe that has slipped out of position will read the wrong part of the cabinet. Check the sensor once a month, and check that it still sits at egg height after every full clean.
The turner motor and gears need a wipe, not a soak. Dust and dried fluid can jam a rack, and a jammed rack pulls on the motor until it wears. Check that the rack moves freely after the clean, and that the marked eggs turn as they should once the machine is running again. Uneven heat from a dusty fan is one of the quiet causes covered in our guide to why eggs don't hatch.
The room and the pests around the machine
The room the machine sits in matters as much as the machine. Flies, cockroaches and small rodents are drawn to warmth and damp, and a machine that sits on a dusty floor or beside spilt water is a poor neighbour for a clean batch. Clean the floor and the surfaces around the cabinet when you do the full clean, and keep feed, drinks and food scraps out of the room.
Rodents chew cables and leave droppings on the top of the cabinet. Check the cables after each clean and move any that have been gnawed. Our guide on biosecurity on a poultry farm covers the wider routine for keeping the room and its people from carrying disease in.
Keep your own hands and footwear in mind too. Wash your hands before you touch the trays, and do not carry the same cloth from the machine to the chick brooder. Cross-contamination is quiet, and it is easy to do without noticing.
Record every clean in the log
A clean that is not written down is hard to check. Keep a line in the setting log for each full clean. Write the date, the people who did the work, the disinfectant product and the contact time you used, and the time the machine was left to dry. Note anything unusual, such as a cracked tray, a seal that needs replacing or a probe that had moved.
If you have had disease in the flock, tighten the routine. Our guide on Newcastle disease prevention in Ghana explains the wider steps your vet will want to see.
The log is useful later. If a hatch goes wrong, you can check whether the machine was cleaned properly before that setting, and if a problem keeps coming back, the record shows whether it follows the cleaning schedule or a particular product. A grower who can say when the machine was last disinfected has a much better chance of finding the real cause.
Common cleaning mistakes
Most cleaning problems come from a short list of habits. These are the ones that show up most often when growers describe a machine that never seems to stay clean.
- Hosing the whole cabinet, which pushes water into the controller and the sockets.
- Mixing two cleaners because one seemed to be doing too little.
- Wiping the disinfectant off straight away, so it never had time to work.
- Skipping the drying step and setting eggs into a damp cabinet.
- Using the same cloth on the machine, the brooder and the feed bins.
- Cleaning the cabinet but leaving the old sponges and the slimy trays in place.
- Waiting until the machine smells before cleaning it.
If the machine still will not stay clean after you have fixed these, check our frequently asked questions, or send a photo of the trays on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503. When you are ready for the next batch, the order form is the quickest way to start.
Questions farmers ask
How often should I clean an incubator?
Clean the whole machine after every hatch and before the next setting, and scrub the water trays weekly while the machine is in regular use. Fan guards and vents need a wipe every week in harmattan. A schedule works better than waiting for the machine to look dirty, because the bacteria you cannot see are already growing by then.
Can I use bleach to clean an incubator?
A chlorine-based product can work as a disinfectant if you use it at the strength and contact time on the label, and rinse where the label asks. It corrodes some metals, it must never be mixed with other cleaners, and the room needs to be ventilated while you use it. Always clean with detergent first, because bleach does poorly through grease and debris.
Do I need to clean a new incubator before I use it?
Yes. A new machine has been packed, moved and stored, and dust and packing residue settle on its surfaces. Wipe the cabinet, trays and fan guard with a clean damp cloth, rinse and dry, and then run the machine empty for at least a day to confirm the temperature and humidity are steady before any eggs go in.
Can I clean the machine while the eggs are still in it?
No. Take the eggs out before you start, even if the hatch looks finished. Moving steam, water and disinfectant around live eggs damages them and can carry contamination into the shell. Once the machine is empty and dry, you can set the next batch.
How long should an incubator dry before it is used again?
Dry it until the surfaces feel dry to the back of your hand, the corners smell neutral, and the trays are dry on both faces. In the dry season that can be a few hours with the door open. In the rainy season, plan for a full day or more, and do not hurry the timing of the next setting.
What should I do about mould inside the machine?
Scrub the mould off with detergent, disinfect the area, and dry the cabinet fully. Replace any sponge or wick that has grown mould. If it returns within a few settings, the cause is usually water left standing, poor ventilation or a damp room, so check the water trays, the vents and the floor of the room before you clean again.
Is it safe to use the same cloth on the incubator and the brooder?
No. Use separate cloths, buckets and brushes for the incubator and the brooder, and wash your hands between them. A cloth that has wiped a dirty tray can carry bacteria straight onto the chicks, and the brooder is where young chicks are most vulnerable. Label the cloths so the separation is clear to everyone on the farm.
