candled last night, disappointed.

[halfwaynowhere]

I set my eggs monday evening, so I know its a bit early to candle, but I should be seeing some veins or something by now, right? It looks like all 4 of my eggs are clear. I'm giving them more time and will candle again in a few more days to see if there has been any progress, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
This is my first time trying to hatch, with EE eggs from a hen I recently bought (who had definitely been with a roo). I can't have roos here, so I figured this was my only shot at having fertile eggs without having them shipped. One of her eggs had cracked before I collected it, so I broke it open and thought I saw a bullseye, so I'm assuming they were fertile. Oh well.

I'd definitely like to try again, so if these eggs don't magically start developing in the next few days, I might try again soon with shipped eggs. I don't want a ton of babies, but I'd like to experience having a few hatch!

 

[FenDruadin]

Aw. Sorry they don't seem to be developing. But don't give up! I'll bet you can find some good, fertile eggs on craigslist or something locally. Or maybe someone on these boards lives near you and could sell you a few. Good luck--maybe this batch will work out, but I agree that after five days you ought to see something. On the other hand, what are you using to candle, and when are you doing it? I know sometimes my eggs will look clear at an early stage if I candle during the day or with a weak battery in my flashlight. A nice strong light and a VERY dark room (as can be achieved only at night in my house) make all the difference.

Good luck!

 

[ChooksChick]

Another thing: EE eggs are notoriously difficult to see into- that color goes all the way through the shell.

I don't worry about candling until day 10, and I know my jarring them at that point won't matter as much as they aren't as fragile. Things are much easier to see then, too.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

I candled using a maglight flashlight (very bright) in my bathroom (no windows, with the door closed). The shells looked very porous, and I could easily see inside them. I'll try again in a few days though.

Because I can only have a small number of hens (I have 2, though we are building a bigger coop so I can have a few more), I have to be very picky about what breeds I get, and am trying for a colorful mix of eggs. I found someone on CL selling black copper marans eggs for $40/dozen, which is probably not a bad price, but I'm wary of spending that kind of money on essentially my first hatch.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Porous eggs usually don't hatch. If you can, try to find local eggs. No shipping. Shipped eggs are hard to hatch, usually 50% will hatch. For your first batch, keep it simple. That way you can see if you bator is working proper. A test batch.

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
Marans eggs are very hard to hatch, too- you have to lightly sand off 35-40% of the brown coloring and keep the humidity low, because they don't evaporate the way they need to. I do long stripes down the sides like the stripes of a pumpkin, top to bottom. It's good to read up on how others do using your type of incubator, too. I have put a lot of pointers out about how my LG and Hovabators work in this area best. It may be different where you are.

 

[toto65]

Quote:
That is exactly what I did, I found a local person who had eggs that they knew were fertile since their hens had been hatching for them. I had a new incubator and rather than go to the expense of having eggs shipped, (especially after hearing the horror stories here about shipped eggs this year) I have hatched 2 batches of "suprise chicks" This way I have been able to see how well my incubator works, after the first hatch with less than half hatching, I added a turner and my hatch percentage increased dramatically. Now I am ready to try my luck with eggs that I have purchased for hatching. Good luck

 

[Lotsapaints]

Wish I lived closer to you I have Delaware pullets and Partridge Rock pullets for sale maybe 6 weeks from laying and some extra Cuckoo Marans too then you wouldn't have such a long wait