Waterbator PICS ADDED

What about if you have a constant air flow ? a small computer fan ?? Hot spots normally occur when there is no air movement ?

Ah! Very interestink!

This has been my experience. Adding a fan helps the flow of air that is coming from an ELEMENT, like what's in a typical Hovabator.

A fan also helps the flow of heat from a light bulb. HOWEVER, a fan does not undo the glare spots created by a light bulb. So blowing air makes the interior air temp more even, but where the direct glare of a bulb hits an egg, that egg still gets HOT! All my homebuilt bator designs featured baffles to keep direct light off the eggs.

THe point of using water is to get away from needing fans. The point of water is its superior heat conductivity. How well it distributes heat evenly, not in hot spots. At first I thought using a gel like substance would be superior, but now I am not convinced. Having played around with water filled, heated bags, I think plain water, not gel, just pure liquid, delivers the best heat conductivity in the simplest manner.

Now if you wanted to heat your gel with an element instead of a light bulb, you might be onto something. Bulbs have their own problems.

Not so quick there ! I have built a incubator with a bulb's and although I didn't have the bulb directly under the eggs I did not have any "" Hot spots "" on the upper part of the incubator because I directed the flow of air over the bulbs ,kinda like a cyclone action .Maybe lower the bulb as low as you can go and then have some air movement blowing over the bulb ? might regulate the temp better ? Most incubators have there heat element over the top around the outer area of the lid as it were ( lower priced one's that is ).I didn't use a wafer though ,rather a dimmer switch which I found to be very accurate

Internal circulation of the water in the bag. Internal heat source in the bag. Just like the air unit's, internal heater and air flow.

What?

Waterbator hit a bump in the road. There was a break in the bag and it seriously became a water bator!

I had been using the wine box liner, but took that out as it wasn't quite big enough and when filled with water, created a hump that rolled the eggs off and clunked them against the side of the roaster.

Used a light blue recycling bag, which, as it turns out is NOT created as sturdily as a black garbage bag, and it broke a seam somewhere and the eggs were soaked by the time I discovered the leak. Good thing water had no reached the exposed electrical bits on the wafer! ZAP!

Went back to the wine box liner. It is definitely sturdily made. Put a little less water in which helped somewhat with eggs rolling off the high spot.

Aside from having trouble with the wafer, and trouble finding the correct water holder, everything else seems to be going well. Temps move between 98 and 101, I am happy with this range, it's the best that wafer unit, as built, can do.

The best thing about the water bator may be that you set chicken eggs but hatch ducks.

Oooh, if I manage to do that the price of a waterbator goes way up!

Should get someone with one of those vacuum seal bag units to just seal a sturdy bag shut ? or maybe a Hot Water Bottle o two ?? They have a great seal ,and they won't spring a leak ...............as far as I know that is ? Duh !

I think two hot water bottles could work fine. HOWEVER...A water bottle is very thick, dense rubber and I wonder if the heat of a bulb, coming up through the bottom of a roaster, would have any chance of penetrating that rubber to add heat? If a hot water bottle is well insulated and keeps the heat in, it also keeps the heat OUT.

This is why I have been working with lighter materials. They must be able to easily absorb the heat coming from below.

Some observations about the waterbator.

As I write this, two goose eggs are attempting to hatch in the waterbator. They were not incubated the whole way in the waterbator. They were incubated mostly in the Hovabator and removed when the duck eggs began to hatch. I thought I had lots of time to clean the Hovabator and get these two goose eggs back in to hatch. WRONG! They are hatching now.

During the duck hatch I had a few ducklings that needed help (yes I help, I know, I've heard it all, too bad, I'm a helper, that's just how I roll). They were covered in slime that dried to a hard crust, making it hard for them to move. I washed these ducklings. Set them back in the Hovabator where I felt they stayed cold for too long. When you're wet, blowing air just plain feels cold, even if it's warm. I placed these cold, wet ducklings in the waterbator where they seemed to snuggle into that warm, plastic bladder. It warmed the chicks up pretty fast, much faster than the Hovabator does. They were cozy and content in no time. I conclude that the waterbator has superior heat transfer ability, both to egg and newly hatched chick.

However, ducklings, and I guess chicks too, have a very hard time moving around in the waterbator because the surface of the plastic is slippery , plus it is not a solid surface, but a waving, flowing, bag of water. Imagine trying to walk around on a waterbed. While it has superior heat transfer ability and warms cold wet hatchlings quickly, it is not for long tern storage of chicks. I think it could make a leg problem worse because it is unsteady to walk on. I think it is a great hatcher, but you need a warm brooder to move chicks to once they are mobile.

The test will be the chicken eggs which frankly, I don't think are losing enough water. I would expect the air sacs to be bigger by now, and they're not. The waterbator is not airtight. It's a roaster lid with an extension cord coming out of it! Airtight? I don't think so! So why such a slow evaporation?

Let's see how the hatching geese make out. Will they get stuck in their shells. There is zero humidity in that waterbator. If they are quick, I think they should be fine. Slowpokes get stuck. And I have to say these two eggs are taking their sweet time about this.

Is anyone reading this or am I my own audience? Won't be the first time I get caught talking to myself!

The large roaster that is the waterbator is short on space. I doubt that with the clunky wafer in there I'd have much luck with 12 eggs. Too crowded.

Neighbour is a sheet metal fabricator and is building me a tray large enough to handle more eggs and the wafer. This design will be built around the dimensions of those wine box liners. Those things have turned out to be PERFECT for this application!

I felt the chicken eggs (test hatch) were not losing enough weight. The air sacs were not big enough. I removed the roaster lid and covered the eggs and bladder with a tea towel. I was afraid it would not be able to keep temps up. Wrong! Keeping temps up just fine. It bounces between 98 and 101. I am happy with this range. Still a few days to go until hatch day.

I'm still with you Uno. I read most things, but don't have anything to contribute. I am reading this with interest. You are a remarkable creative force. xo

farmchiq wrote:I'm still with you Uno. I read most things, but don't have anything to contribute. I am reading this with interest. You are a remarkable creative force. xo

Ditto. We have our pseudo bator down, I just have to post pictures.

I'm here and reading. Your thread is my bedtime reading material tonight and when I read your post asking if anyone was reading it, I cracked up. I envisioned you having a moment of lucidity and posing the question and then going back to talking to yourself.

Who needs any other form of entertainment when we got you Uno. You are too funny....even when you're not trying to be. Does your husband appreciate your sense of humour after all these years?

Anyways, back to the waterbator............

Ha ha. The LAST person who finds me funny is my husband. He rolls his eyes at the things I invent and while he wires things together for me he mutters, "You DO realize this voids our house insurance policy, right?"

Tonight he asked me what I plan to do with the ducks. Do? With the ducks? Kiss them. What else does one do with ducks? Like, duh!

BUt Chicory, I do indeed ask myself a question and then come up with my own answer. Often it's the wrong answer, but at least I'm paying attention. To myself. All by myself.

Sweetened and FarmChiq, I think this waterbator is the next biggest thing in small scale poultry hatching. I really do. Get thee to the liquor store and buy thee some boxed wine. You gotta start somewhere!

Sweet dreams Uno.