Egg Candling! Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices.

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yakitori said:
Yay! Soooo cute! they say to not count the chickens before trhey hatch, but it’s just so hard!

I have 6 eggs and on day 7, and i may have one quitter. one of my eggs isn't showing any movement, and has fainter veins than the rest.

However, this is my first time hatching, and I have no idea what I’m doing.
how long does it take for the veins to recede after death?


Strong healthy movement:
View attachment 2696056

potential quitter:
View attachment 2696057


And since a video says more than a thousand words, I’d like to contribute to this thread with mine :)

https://youtube.com/shorts/xMQ6lF6Hf20?feature=share
Click to expand...

Your suspected quitter looks good to me in the image. The veins recede fairly quickly for early quitters and will take longer as the chick develops. You won't always see movement. Day 9-10 always seems to be the best time frame to catch them swimming around. :)
 
CluckNDoodle said:
Your suspected quitter looks good to me in the image. The veins recede fairly quickly for early quitters and will take longer as the chick develops. You won't always see movement. Day 9-10 always seems to be the best time frame to catch them swimming around. :)
Click to expand...
Oh no. you’ve given me.. hope 😂
I’ll definitely candle them all on day 10 as well. I’ve been candling at least one once a day. I just can’t resist...

There’s also one thing that I’ve been curious about and it’s probably off topic, so please do ignore if you feel that I’m derailing the thread!

I’m reading that the embryo orients itself properly on day 14. In that case, why does lock down happen on day 18?
 
yakitori said:
Oh no. you’ve given me.. hope 😂
I’ll definitely candle them all on day 10 as well. I’ve been candling at least one once a day. I just can’t resist...

There’s also one thing that I’ve been curious about and it’s probably off topic, so please do ignore if you feel that I’m derailing the thread!

I’m reading that the embryo orients itself properly on day 14. In that case, why does lock down happen on day 18?
Click to expand...

You are correct and there are zero detrimental effects to your hatch when you stop turning the eggs after day 14. I typically shut off my turner on day 16-17 personally. I believe the reason it's recommend to do full lockdown at day 18 is that it's simply easier to remember to stop turning and elevate humidity at the same time. Especially for newbies that don't necessarily even know why it's necessary to do either. So you can stop turning earlier and you can elevate humidity later than day 18.
 
Which day would be the best to outline the airsac to predict peep location? day 14 or day 18?

Also, I just want to check back and say that I have handled all six of my broody's eggs almost every day so far. Sometimes to candle them, sometimes to rearrange them so to make it easier for my relatively small broody mom to cover them all.

All are alive and kicking, even the two that was accidentally left out in the cold. Sometimes I washed my hands, but most of the time I don't.... 8 days left until due date.. I will probably continue to candle them every day until day 18. Will report back again with hatch rates!
 
yakitori said:
Which day would be the best to outline the airsac to predict peep location? day 14 or day 18?

Also, I just want to check back and say that I have handled all six of my broody's eggs almost every day so far. Sometimes to candle them, sometimes to rearrange them so to make it easier for my relatively small broody mom to cover them all.

All are alive and kicking, even the two that was accidentally left out in the cold. Sometimes I washed my hands, but most of the time I don't.... 8 days left until due date.. I will probably continue to candle them every day until day 18. Will report back again with hatch rates!
Click to expand...

Day 17 or 18, the air cell will draw down significantly in the last few days of incubation but you can usually start to tell which side the chick will pip.

Day 20 Air Cell Drawing Down for Hatch.jpg
 
CluckNDoodle said:
Day 17 or 18, the air cell will draw down significantly in the last few days of incubation but you can usually start to tell which side the chick will pip.

View attachment 2705561
Click to expand...
oh wow, that's quite the change. I wonder whether the broody mommas know to stop turning the eggs on day 18.

When I candled today, I see this curly thing in one of the eggs. I thought it might be a vein, but I’ve never seen one float around like this before when I candled... should I be concerned?

and here it is in action:
https://youtube.com/shorts/gzT493vQ-xA?feature=share

961BDEC9-CF26-41EB-AF6E-BE107E0C5051.jpeg
 
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