Candled at 6 days - need help deciphering * Pics * incubator too warm?

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

This is my first time trying to hatch eggs in an incubator and to top it off, it's a homemade incubator (I'm a little nervous). I'm using a dimmer switch, which seems to work at keeping the temps stable, but.. all 3 of my thermometer readings show different temps, so I'm not exactly sure as to what temperature the eggs are being incubated at.

The thermometers are placed in different areas of the incubator, but I thought they should be the same because I have a fan in there - no such luck. Typically, they've been running between 98.5 & 101.5 (depending on which thermometer I get the reading from). Besides turning the eggs, I am also rotating their position in the incubator every night so that if there are wamer spots, the eggs take turns in those areas.

There are pictures of my incubator and how the eggs are positioned here (the readings were closer together when I first stabilized the temps, but I've since moved the thermometers and the readings are not as close):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=19548-homemade-incubator

I candled today - just needed to know if the chicks were actually alive & developing or if I had messed them up somehow.

I have 22 eggs in the incubator - 20 look like the first picture and I can see veining in most of them. The chick looks much bigger than I thought it would at 6 days - does this mean my temperatures are too warm?

Two of the eggs are clear - is it safe to throw them out now or is it possible a chick could still end up developing in them?

I also have 1 egg that looks like it has a blood ring on it, but I'm not 100% sure. How long can I safely leave it in the incubator?

Edited to add this pic showing the differences in temps and placement of thermometers (97, 99, 100.2 & 101.7 - the meat thermomter was registering about 99 degrees)

 

[BirdBrain]

It is truly amazing how fast those embryos grow. The clears look pretty clear. It won't hurt to leave them in until day 10 or so to be sure. The blood ring should probably go. Do an Internet search for the development of chicks. There are some pretty neat sites with day by day drawings and some have real pictures.

I think your temps are okay. I have a wafer thermostat and it goes up to 100.7 and cools down to 99.4 before starting back up. When you incubate for the first time there are SO many unknowns. I went through the whole first hatch not knowing if ANYTHING was coming out of those eggs alive. I candled often for reassurance and ended up with some pretty babies, half of which came from eggs that had been washed and stored at 37 degrees F for a couple of days. They are pretty tough critters.

When I hatch I keep pretty detailed records so I can identify any trends or causes of mortality. I record the inside temp as well as outside (room) temp, the humidity in the bator and sometimes the room humidity. I record the time I turn the eggs and any comments like adding water or if I tweaked the temp. Besides staring at eggs, it gives me something to do. This hatch I am trying to understand the relationship between the amount of weight loss and ease of hatching so I weighed each egg at set then at days 7, 14, & 18. The eggs should lose between 11-14% for a successful hatch. I have done the day 14 weights and there are some supprising variations. They don't all lose weight at the same rate. Go figure.

Happy hatching!!

 

[tnchickenut]

first one looks good, second looks infertile. Hard to say without seeing it. Leave it a day or two more and check again. You should see blood vessels too. The dark shaddow is the chick.


Sounds to me like you are doing good. Just leave them in a couple more days to make sure. No harm in that.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I agree that your temps are fine, don't worry about them. I would leave the clears alone until day 10. If you have a blood ring, toss it. I want to warn you that the more you candle, the more of a chance of you contaminating the eggs so be careful with how many times you candle.

I have a flashlight that I candle with that I can see the beginning stages of life at day 3 in all eggs except blue eggs.

Good luck with your hatch!

Laurie

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Thank you all for the encouragement and advice. My thermometers seem to have finally come together on the readings (since late last night, they've been within 1/2 degree of each other). I think 2 of the readings just take a very long time to register and get thrown off when I need to open the lid for turnings. Wow! I just now checked and 3 of them say 100.2 and this is only 1/2 an hour after I turned them. No idea why they were so off before, but I'm glad they are working now.

I figured the dark area at the bottom of the good eggs are chicks, but am surprised to see that dark area. All the other candling pictures I've seen of the 6th day show a tiny little embryo with veining. I do see veining in the eggs along with the dark area, but my eggs just don't look like the pics I've seen - incuding the ones here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261876

I set them on Friday night at 8 p.m. and took the pics last night (6th day?). Are they further along then they should be?

 

[BirdBrain]

They are fine. The only way you know if your temps have truly been to high is if they hatch out early.