Susan Skylark
Chirping
- Apr 9, 2024
- 116
- 121
- 89
I'm on day 13 of incubation on my second batch of quail eggs. I know there is a great guide on this site already for candling quail eggs but as a beginner without a good candler it is a little daunting to know what is 'normal' when you have no idea what you are doing and have a mediocre light source. About 10% of my candled eggs (in general) showed veins or embryos on any given day so in that sense seeing veins and embryos (at least for the beginner using their phone light) isn't 'normal.' I've also seen quite a few panicked 'my eggs aren't showing veins' type posts from newbie quail raisers when their eggs don't match the pictures, thinking their eggs aren't developing when it is actually that candling quail eggs is hard. I also haven't found a good pictorial guide out there on the interweb, while there are a number of videos of varying quality, there just isn't anything I can quickly reference to figure out what 'normal' is. Since I'm fascinated by embryology (and really impatient for these silly things to hatch) I'm candling a dozen of my thirty eggs daily anyway so I decided to photograph the process. The results are attached.
A few notes on the Guide:
1. Yes, candling your eggs everyday isn't recommended as it might kill embryos, but it is a fairly minor risk. I actually cracked 2/32 handling them so much, which is probably the bigger risk factor in over-handling eggs, but I'm willing to scramble a few eggs in my pursuit of knowledge, that is a decision you'll have to make for yourself.
2. Yes, the images are a little blurry, I'm hand holding a DSLR camera with one hand in a dark room with a slow shutter speed.
3. I'm using a cheap android phone light as it was my best available light source and probably is for most neophyte quail breeders who are spending their money on eggs, incubators, and supplies rather than a great candler at this point. This is a beginner's guide after all!
4. There are blue and red crayon marks (X and O) on some of the eggs, like Day 9 that is not veining but a Red O.
5. These are hand turned eggs, Day 6 has a weird half and half pattern as the contents seemed to be a little slow to float to the top for the first couple days in a few eggs, but all other eggs can be considered 'normal' or 'typical.'
6. Day 10 almost all my eggs had veining in the narrow end.
7. I found candling from the narrow end between days 7-12 showed the most detail while on day 13 you can't see much of anything except from the wide end just above the air cell.
8. Veining/embryos were visible in only about 10% of eggs on any given day (except day 10) and some embryonic movement was visible on rare occasions. As long as there is a reddish shadowy mass taking up over half the egg you probably have a live embryo.
9. It is best to compare eggs within a batch, while this Guide can serve as a map, it won't tell you exactly what is going on with your particular hatch. If you have an egg that is weird or behind the others, then it probably is.
10. The more you practice, the better you will get, it takes time and experience to develop an 'eye' just like it does to read x-rays or an ultrasound scan. It will also help to open up weird or reject eggs, an egg necropsy can teach you a lot about the incubation process, embryo development, and give you hints as to problems with your incubation procedure.
11. Don't panic! If your eggs don't look exactly like you think they should. Give questionable eggs a couple extra days as long as they aren't stinky, but don't keep around eggs that are obviously not developing, especially if they are significantly different from the rest of your eggs.
12. Stats on this hatch (32 eggs total, shipped, hand turned): As of Day 13: 1 infertile egg, 2 embryonic deaths (day 3 and day 5), 2 owner cracked eggs (both with live embryos). 27 eggs will go into lockdown.
A few notes on the Guide:
1. Yes, candling your eggs everyday isn't recommended as it might kill embryos, but it is a fairly minor risk. I actually cracked 2/32 handling them so much, which is probably the bigger risk factor in over-handling eggs, but I'm willing to scramble a few eggs in my pursuit of knowledge, that is a decision you'll have to make for yourself.
2. Yes, the images are a little blurry, I'm hand holding a DSLR camera with one hand in a dark room with a slow shutter speed.
3. I'm using a cheap android phone light as it was my best available light source and probably is for most neophyte quail breeders who are spending their money on eggs, incubators, and supplies rather than a great candler at this point. This is a beginner's guide after all!
4. There are blue and red crayon marks (X and O) on some of the eggs, like Day 9 that is not veining but a Red O.
5. These are hand turned eggs, Day 6 has a weird half and half pattern as the contents seemed to be a little slow to float to the top for the first couple days in a few eggs, but all other eggs can be considered 'normal' or 'typical.'
6. Day 10 almost all my eggs had veining in the narrow end.
7. I found candling from the narrow end between days 7-12 showed the most detail while on day 13 you can't see much of anything except from the wide end just above the air cell.
8. Veining/embryos were visible in only about 10% of eggs on any given day (except day 10) and some embryonic movement was visible on rare occasions. As long as there is a reddish shadowy mass taking up over half the egg you probably have a live embryo.
9. It is best to compare eggs within a batch, while this Guide can serve as a map, it won't tell you exactly what is going on with your particular hatch. If you have an egg that is weird or behind the others, then it probably is.
10. The more you practice, the better you will get, it takes time and experience to develop an 'eye' just like it does to read x-rays or an ultrasound scan. It will also help to open up weird or reject eggs, an egg necropsy can teach you a lot about the incubation process, embryo development, and give you hints as to problems with your incubation procedure.
11. Don't panic! If your eggs don't look exactly like you think they should. Give questionable eggs a couple extra days as long as they aren't stinky, but don't keep around eggs that are obviously not developing, especially if they are significantly different from the rest of your eggs.
12. Stats on this hatch (32 eggs total, shipped, hand turned): As of Day 13: 1 infertile egg, 2 embryonic deaths (day 3 and day 5), 2 owner cracked eggs (both with live embryos). 27 eggs will go into lockdown.
