Candeling eggs

[chickensandhappiness]

I was candeling one of my polish/sultan/mottled houdan hatching eggs on day 1, and there was a faint air bubble and the egg was super dark, darker than all the others. What does this mean? Will my chick hatch?

 

[LaurEliz]

Hello! I am no expert on egg incubating, but I have been reading about it a lot lately as I am incubating my own eggs and am on Day 14 today. So far, so good with mine. Out of fourteen, three never began developing and the rest are developing wonderfully.

I candled before I set mine in the incubator just to check for cracks and especially porous eggs. Not much can be seen on Day 1. I would put the egg in the incubator and wait until Day 7 to candle. Then, you can likely see much more. Even so, if you don't see any development, I have read that it is wise to keep the egg in the incubator (unless something starts oozing or smelling) until around Day 14, when it is very, VERY clear to tell if there is development or not. Some of my eggs could be seen developing very clearly days earlier than others set on the same day. There were some that I thought looked completely undeveloped on Day 7 that, by Day 9, had embryos I could clearly see moving in them.

I am not sure what the the egg being darker could mean. It may just be that different eggs have different shells. Some of mine are easier to see in than others. However, air bubbles (if you mean the air pocket at the end of the egg?) are normal and vital for hatching eggs. I can't say for sure if the chick will hatch, but I wouldn't give up on the egg until much later in the incubation process. Give it a chance, and maybe it will develop. It's worth a shot!

Good luck to you!

 

[chickensandhappiness]

Thank you so much! I won’t give up on it and i’ll check it in a week or 2.