1st Hatch Candling Question

[cmitchell]

This is my first time with hatching eggs. Hope my questions aren't to silly..if they are, feel free to point and laugh!

I have a broody hen that has been setting on about 10 eggs. They are approx a week from hatch day. I candled 2 of her eggs last week and believe they have chicks in them. I used a regular flashlight and saw a good sized air sac with dark shadow in both eggs.

I would like to candle all of her eggs to remove any that are duds. Could I take out, say, 3 at a time, bring them in my house to a room with no windows to candle them without causing a problem to any of the chicks that might be inside? What should I mark the eggs with..pencil be ok?

Is there a "lock down" for hens with eggs like for 'bators?

Is it ok for the hen to eat the medicated chick starter after chicks hatch?

It will be hatch day April 19 for the one egg I marked when she first started setting. How long after that day should I wait for late hatchers?

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[youngbiddy]

Wait till dark and you won't have to bring them inside.

Pencil is fine.

Some people say yes, some say no.

I've never used the medicated stuff, this I don't know.

2-3 days is usually the limit for late-hatchers.

I'm making all kinds of typos this morning...

 

[iluvsedward]

you'd be surprised how late eggs will hatch- up to 6 days after the date!

 

[cmitchell]

I candled 7 out of the 10 eggs my hen is sitting on (3 I did not candle). I really don't know what I'm looking for as I have never candled eggs or seen anyone do it. I used my regular flashlight in a completly dark room and used the pics on your candling sticky as a reference.

One looked as if it had a blood ring. I marked it 0 with a line through it incase it doesn't hatch.

The other 6 had nice air sacs and looked to have chicks in them.

Problem is..I saw different stages of developement! From floating embryos (day 11/12ish) to so dark I could hardly make out veins (day 14/15ish).

It seems some of my other hens laid their eggs in her nest box before I could move her to the lrg dog crate.

Will the hen abandon the still viable younger eggs or will she continue to sit on them? Should I get an incubator just in case?

 

[gumpsgirl]

I would definitely wait until it's dark outside and candle the eggs where they are. The more you move them, the more you risk dropping one.

As far as what you are looking for goes, the dark spot in the egg along with the air sac is a good sign! If you can get a brighter flashlight, you will be able to see them moving around in the egg and possibly spot a little chick foot. That is always fun too!

The hen will keep sitting until the eggs are finished hatching. They can feel the chicks moving in the eggs that they are sitting on and will know when time is up. At least that is how it has worked here.

I don't know how to answer the feed question though. I would think it would be fine for the hen to eat the medicated feed, but I'm not certain on that one. I only feed non-medicated feed here. Sorry!