candling/hatching question

[tbevans]

Should I Crack the dark egg and see what's inside? When should I expect to see movement in the eggs when I candle them?

 

[nchls school]

In the first, dark egg, there are no vessels or movement. The blob in the last egg doesn't move either. I go out there to check on them a couple times a day and I also peek out my back door several times since I can see them in my back yard from there. I'm pretty positive on how long she's been sitting..she was very active and I never saw her sitting before the 19th....if it was any sooner than that it possibly could have been the 18th but not before. If she was asleep or lounging, she was outside of the house and the eggs/nest is isnide the house. Now she is always on them unless I go inside the pen where the house is to feed or check the eggs. She has been laying for quite a while..could it just be too old?? When I counted the eggs this morning there were 19 total..11 of which weren't any good.

Can you see any veins in the last egg (they do not show in the picture)? If not the embryo has died. An old egg would smell badly, or, if it hadn't been incubated it would be clear when candled not solid dark. Breaking the egg open has to be your decision. I would never tell someone else to check an egg by breaking it open-what if there were a live embryo inside?

 

[tbevans]

In the last egg there is 1 streak that runs the length of the egg, but only that 1 streak. There are no more. Ok. I will just leave the dark one out there and see what happens. I don't want to kill one by cracking it open, I was just curious about it. I've never done this before and so I'm learning as I go and I'm trying to do everything right.

 

[nchls school]

In the last egg there is 1 streak that runs the length of the egg, but only that 1 streak. There are no more. Ok. I will just leave the dark one out there and see what happens. I don't want to kill one by cracking it open, I was just curious about it. I've never done this before and so I'm learning as I go and I'm trying to do everything right.

In the past I have cracked eggs open to find a living embryo that quickly died. Never crack an egg open unless you are sure it is bad. Just last week I had a questionable egg. I put it back under the hen and two days later it hatched.

I still think that last egg has died.

 

[tbevans]

Ok I'll just leave it and see what happens. When should I expect to be able to see movement when I candle the eggs?

 

[Orca5094]

Ok, if she has that many eggs in her nest and you know for sure 11 aren't good, you should remove those 11 eggs now. That is too many for her to sit on and incubate properly. I would also discard that dark egg since it can't be any good, either.

You also shouldn't be candling multiple times a day, that can disturb the eggs and the hen too much and cause problems. Once a week is sufficient for candling, but if you really can't go that long (I know it's fun and exciting, especially your first time incubating) at least go to candling once every few days.

Oh, just saw your new question. Good to leave that last egg for now to be sure. Give them all a few days before you candle them again and then see what you see. You should be able to see the tiny little embryos swimming around in there by then.

 

[tbevans]

Thanks for the reply! I removed all of the bad eggs yesterday morning. I've only candled twice. Once a few days ago and once on day 10 to give them a few more so I could be sure before I took any eggs out. I planned on candling again sometime next week, just to keep an eye on them..I do go check on the ducks a couple times a day tho..sorry for the confusion! Lol I am super excited but I'm trying to be patient! The 28 days just needs to hurry up! Haha!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Just ran across your thread. Am curious about that dark one. Did you remove it? If you did, you could put it in a Ziploc bag and crack it open if you are curious. I would have been inclined to leave it with momma, because I was thinking it looked about ready to hatch, but if it did hatch this soon, she may abandon the others, so... I don't know.

Good luck with the good ones!

 

[tbevans]

I put it back in the nest to see what happens!

 

[Orca5094]

Thanks for the reply! I removed all of the bad eggs yesterday morning. I've only candled twice. Once a few days ago and once on day 10 to give them a few more so I could be sure before I took any eggs out. I planned on candling again sometime next week, just to keep an eye on them..I do go check on the ducks a couple times a day tho..sorry for the confusion! Lol I am super excited but I'm trying to be patient! The 28 days just needs to hurry up! Haha!!

Oh, ok! Good! Glad that was the number of times you check on the ducks and not the number of times candling per day. lol!

But yes, time goes by so slowly when you're waiting for eggs to hatch! Especially the last few days of incubation. But it's worth the wait!