To candle or not to candle. That is the question.

[Cryss]

OK, so in another thread, I talked about how Miss Peaches is sitting on eggs, even though she’s only eight months old. I gave in and let her sit on eggs, she has 8. That’s an awful lot for little tiny her but she continues to sit and spread her self thin over them lol.

But my question now is, is it safe to let her hatch without having candled any of the eggs? She’s been sitting for a week. I know that candling is usually done about day five so now would be a really good time to do it. I’ve let other hens hatch before, so it’s not my first time, but I have always candled. This time I’m thinking I’d let nature take its course. Obviously if mama kicked an egg out and it stinks I’d get it taken away. She is already a feisty mama. She’s never been one to want to be held or petted anyway. Now even more so. She doesn’t come out to eat and drink. Well, maybe she does and I don’t see it but frankly, I haven’t even seen any evidence of it. So I’m thinking leave her alone. She’s doing her thing. Has anyone else ever just left them alone? I’ve also wondered if candling is more something that is necessary for incubated eggs as opposed to mama hatching them. What do you guys think?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Just depends on your personal tastes. My hens aren't great at kicking out bad and dead eggs, so I have to candle and remove so they don't accidentally break them underneath.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Has anyone else ever just left them alone? I’ve also wondered if candling is more something that is necessary for incubated eggs as opposed to mama hatching them.

I've never candled eggs under a broody hen. I've never seen any benefit other than my curiosity. I mark the eggs before I start them under a broody hen and check under her daily after the others laid to remove any that don't belong, but other than that I leave them alone. Broody hens have been hatching eggs without human interference since before they were domesticated thousands of years ago. I find the more I interfere the more harm I do. Candling does nothing to help them hatch.

I do candle eggs in the incubator, usually once at 7 days and again at lockdown. The candling at 7 days is pure curiosity. I don't use the day 7 candling to make any decisions. I never remove eggs at that time, I always put all of them back in. When I candle at lockdown I do make decisions. Any clears are removed, those are not going to hatch. I don't remove them because I'm scared they are going to explode, I am not worried about that at all. I want them out because it makes it easier to keep track of the individual eggs as they pip and I'm waiting for them to hatch. I only take out the ones I am absolutely sure are not going to hatch.

Some people seem to think that an egg that doesn't have a healthy living chick in is going to explode. That has nothing to do with it. Eggs go bad when bacteria gets inside the egg. It makes no difference if a chick is living in there if bacteria gets inside. A dead embryo does not suck bacteria inside. It has nothing to do with bacteria being inside.

The egg material is the perfect food for bacteria to eat. A dead embryo is the perfect food for bacteria to eat. If bacteria gets inside an egg with a living chick it will kill the chick, there is no advantage in the chick being alive if bacteria gets inside. There is nothing about a chick being dead in the egg that will attract bacteria.

I sniff eggs to see if I detect that rotten egg smell. If you smell rotten eggs bacteria is inside and that egg needs to go. But that is smelling, not candling.

If you want to candle the eggs every day you can, whether they are in an incubator or under a broody hen. As long as you don't drop them to crack them or handle them with dirty or oily hands that might help bacteria get inside you shouldn't be harming them. But there is nothing about candling them that makes them hatch better. I don't see candling as necessary at all. But it can be fun.

 

[mcdze]

ive never had an issue not candling, as said above a rotten egg is usually obvious without candling .. one type of egg to look out for though in either situation is one thats compromised with a fracture, sometimes theyre almost undetectable without candling .. those will rot, and at hatch time will get broke open if not before .. so id say if you candled once mid-term somewhere to pull out obvious clears, really porous looking shelled ones, and any fractured eggs thats good enough .. all thats needed to avoid a mess ..

 

[Cryss]

Thank you all. You’ve pretty much verified what I was thinking. The two hatchlings in the past were candled by me mostly because I was a novice at hatching chicks. I don’t have an incubator so a hen was my method. Everything I read talked about when to candle, how to candle, and what to look for. I’ve never discarded an egg until mama stopped sitting and turned to raising her chicks. There were 4 that appeared absolutely dead, no hope at all yet I couldn’t bring myself to remove them. Good thing cuz they hatched healthy chicks. I so appreciate everyone sharing their wisdom. Thank you all

 

[MomJones]

OK, so in another thread, I talked about how Miss Peaches is sitting on eggs, even though she’s only eight months old. I gave in and let her sit on eggs, she has 8. That’s an awful lot for little tiny her but she continues to sit and spread her self thin over them lol.

But my question now is, is it safe to let her hatch without having candled any of the eggs? She’s been sitting for a week. I know that candling is usually done about day five so now would be a really good time to do it. I’ve let other hens hatch before, so it’s not my first time, but I have always candled. This time I’m thinking I’d let nature take its course. Obviously if mama kicked an egg out and it stinks I’d get it taken away. She is already a feisty mama. She’s never been one to want to be held or petted anyway. Now even more so. She doesn’t come out to eat and drink. Well, maybe she does and I don’t see it but frankly, I haven’t even seen any evidence of it. So I’m thinking leave her alone. She’s doing her thing. Has anyone else ever just left them alone? I’ve also wondered if candling is more something that is necessary for incubated eggs as opposed to mama hatching them. What do you guys think?
View attachment 3524158

I just came across this post; Miss Peaches is so awesome. And what a nice setup she's got!

 

[MomJones]

Thank you all. You’ve pretty much verified what I was thinking. The two hatchlings in the past were candled by me mostly because I was a novice at hatching chicks. I don’t have an incubator so a hen was my method. Everything I read talked about when to candle, how to candle, and what to look for. I’ve never discarded an egg until mama stopped sitting and turned to raising her chicks. There were 4 that appeared absolutely dead, no hope at all yet I couldn’t bring myself to remove them. Good thing cuz they hatched healthy chicks. I so appreciate everyone sharing their wisdom. Thank you all

See? That's what I'm talking about (in my head). Good job!

 

[Cryss]

@MomJones
Unfortunately not a single one of these eggs hatched. I was lucky to get chicks the day they hatched and pop them under her. If you’d like to see Peaches continued story do a search for this first title. . Then to see her with her new babies search the second title. (I’m having difficulty posting the links) Peaches has turned out to be an amazing teenage mom!

“Is mama going to reject them?

“Does coloring mean anything”