Candleing

[griswolfy]

I checked my eggs that have been incubating for 11 days now and I candled them for the first time and most just had a black spot(that floated to the top) with air bubble I didn't candle all of them but one was solid black with an air bubble and I cracked it open and it was rotten so what am I looking for I can't see red veins on the wall. Do I need a stronger light?

 

[Their Other Mother]

What are you using to candle? I have the bare minimum; aka a cardboard shoe box with a hole about the size of a fifty cent piece and a light bulb behind. I turn all the lights out in the room and then hold it up and turn the egg untill I can see through. On white eggs you should be able to see red thread veins and a little blob. I can usually see movement too. I think the heat from the light bulb makes them move around so I try not to hold them there too long 'cause I worry about cooking them. Sometimes I have not seen movement & just set those eggs to the side but have continued to incubate and the little buggers hatched! Unless they start to smell or leak I leave them in untill 24 days then I'll take them out and break them open. last hatch I had 4 left over. only 1 was fully developed but dead, 2 where little black blobs, prob died when I had a heat spike and the last one was not fertile.

Good luck!

 

[ginbart]

Here are some pictures for you.

http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html

http://www.minkhollow.ca/HatchingProgram/Candling/index.html

Hope it helps.

 

[griswolfy]

Im using a flashlight in a dark room. I smelt the one I opened and it stunk but none of the other seem too.
Mine looks most like the good 2 week old egg mines 11 days so I guess they could still be good.

 

[swtangel321]

Make sure you are in a DARK DARK room, I would try another light. The shoe box with a 100 watt bulb works real good. At 11 days you should be able to see a "blob" (dark area) in there.

 

[chicken+quail=luv]

when i was hatching my chicks, we used a flashlight in a really dark, closed closet. everything was fine except we couldn't see through one that had a hard shell. and one had very tiny veins. when they hatched, the one with tiny veins didn't. we opened it, and there was a dead chick inside. so the flashlight candling works, except through really thick eggs.

 

[Rufflemyfeathers]

I had bought a small egg candller cheap and hold on top big side of egg with dark room and it worked so good for me..tried the box and flashlite first and then saw this online and so got it and glad I did...it was so amazing to see the babies moving inside egg around day 7..good luck