Candling an egg.. home made or purchased?

[andalusn]

I am just starting on the project to incubate and hatch eggs. I am wondering, for those who candle the eggs did you make your light or buy one? What do you use? If you made one can you post how you did it and if you could what would you change.

 

[Ridgerunner]

From the Learning Center up top

Candling
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-candling.html

 

[abanjaf]

I just use an $8 LED light from Wal-Mart. Works greats on everything except Maran eggs

 

[Fairybee]

we made mine ive made 2 as ive got goose and chicken eggs i needed a slightly larger one for the goose eggs take a look here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49114290@N06/sets/72157623675267145/

those are the 2 we made and i got to say th toilet roll tube is great this is it being used

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49114290@N06/4503417891/in/set-72157623683088317/

hope this helps ive never used a brought one but ive seen lots of people use LED torches too

 

[Irish Ridge]

Quote:
I imagine trying to candle Maran eggs is like trying to see through mud.

 

[dbcooper02]

I use an old slide projector with a black foam rubber gasket at the front of the lens. Intense light with no heat. It works great for me.
db

 

[Bec]

I use a little Maglite, it works great on most eggs. The darker ones are always hard to see in no matter what!

 

[katharinad]

It's all driven by the light output or lumen. The higher the lumen the brighter the light. I have a candler form GQF and I hate to say it is not that bright. So I went to the store and looked at flash lights. Half of them don't even tell you how bright they are, so they are out of the picture. I found a small LED flash light at Walmart in the camping section for about 12 dollars with 130 lumen. That one is really bright and even works well on large duck eggs. Dark eggs are always an issue, so get the brightest light you can find.
Katharina

 

[andalusn]

Lumen appears to be a key factor in seeing through the egg shell.. If 130 works well for most eggs and Maran eggs being dark shelled are a challenge I am wondering if the 200 lumen lights would be a good option for all egg colors. I researched the Walmart website and they offer flashlights that are 200 lumen and run off of 3AAA batteries. The price is higher. The DORCY brand listed at $39. There were other brands of Tactical light available on line. Downside is they don't offer in store so you have to ship but at least that's free to the store.