candle first?

[davekrista]

I got my duck eggs today. Will be going in the incubator around midnight after "resting" for 8 hours from the trip through the mail system. This is my first real hatch. Should I candle them before I put them in the bator?

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi Dave and Krista! ABSOLUTELY, candle your eggs before you set them. How else will you know what to look for (unless you've candled boodles of eggs before).
There's a lot to see --- you can see the air cell and the yolk and chalazae floating around in a fresh egg. I highly recommend candling shipped eggs prior to setting, so you have something to compare it to when you candle for 'growing embryos' in a few days.
Did I say that twice?
Good luck!

Lisa

 

[Surehatch]

Quote:
Good idea - it gives you a point of reference

 

[pgpoultry]

Candle them frequently and then you will soon learn what are good and what bad, what porous eggs look like,what infertile eggs look like, when a chick dies before hatch time etc.

Sandie

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Oh, and if your eggs aren't marked with 'date-laid', you can estimate the age of the eggs by the size of air cell.
Also you can see if any have 'wobbly air cells' (some people have been successful hatching eggs with wobbly air cells, but I never have had any hatch).
Did you get them set last night?
Good luck with the hatch!

Lisa

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
Yes, I set them last night right after I candled them. Not really sure what i was seeing, but all looked the same but 1 looked a little different. After my daughter gets on the bus (afternoon kindergarten) I am going to try to find the "chart" that I had seen while I was waiting on the duckies eggs to arrive. Temp and humidity are doing great and I have turned them manually once already. YAY, I'm so excited, I hope this 28 days go by quickly.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

This one?

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
Haven't seen that but it will work. Thank you for posting it.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Yea, thats the duck one then theres these two chicken ones.
Right click an save them when you find them.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Quote:
Oh yes! No bearing on candling prior to setting... but you set duck eggs yesterday! Me too! My Pieds and Pekins just started laying again (Swedish are laying too, but an amorous young Pekin drake keeps breaking into the Swedish pen and mating the girls).
Nice to have someone here that set duck eggs the same day, a hatching buddy!

Lisa