Candling BCM Eggs...

[Heartsopenwide]

We are on day 8. I have hatched twice in an incubator and twice with broody hens. This is our first with such dark eggs. I have a very bright head lamp and it is completely dark. Some I can see through. Some are dark masses. Some look like possibly blood rings. But NONE have veins...I want to blame it on such dark eggs, but I am doubtful. I bought the hatching eggs from a local woman.

 

[Oob Child]

I think you should just leave the eggs in for longer. Wait until three days after their hatching date, and try not to think about it. They could just have thick shells, I heard marans do. Can you send a photo?

 

[BastyPutt]

We are on day 8. I have hatched twice in an incubator and twice with broody hens. This is our first with such dark eggs. I have a very bright head lamp and it is completely dark. Some I can see through. Some are dark masses. Some look like possibly blood rings. But NONE have veins...I want to blame it on such dark eggs, but I am doubtful. I bought the hatching eggs from a local woman.

Usually in the dark eggs you can see a little bit of the air cell in a developing egg. If there is an air cell at all, that means you are or were in business. In terms of tracking the development of a Maran egg, nearly impossible.

If you are just putting a head lamp up to it, you are going to be losing quite a bit of light, making your task more difficult. You are going to want to find some thing that conforms to the egg shape, so none of that precious light escapes to the outside of the egg, basically concentrating the whole thing into that egg.

Take an empty toilet paper roll, put duct tape (or another dark tape or material on top) and cut a 3/4" hole in the top. Turn your light on, and put it in the opposite side of the TP roll and then put that side on a surface (table, book, etc). This will trap all the light in the TP roll, and concentrate it all out of the hole you cut in the tape - should give you a much better look. Also, make sure the room is pitch black. We use our closet for dark eggs.

I think you should just leave the eggs in for longer.

This is not necessarily the best idea. Leaving an infertile egg, or one that died, can lead to your whole hatch getting infected when it explodes, as I am sure you are aware with previous experience hatching. After having experienced this first hand, our motto is when in doubt - throw it out.

 

[Oob Child]

This is not necessarily the best idea. Leaving an infertile egg, or one that died, can lead to your whole hatch getting infected when it explodes, as I am sure you are aware with previous experience hatching. After having experienced this first hand, our motto is when in doubt - throw it out.

Ok. I wasn't aware that eggs exploding were common. I didn't mean to spread misinformation, but i'd still keep it in there unless it had no chance at all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ok. I wasn't aware that eggs exploding were common. I didn't mean to spread misinformation, but i'd still keep it in there unless it had no chance at all.

They are not common. What causes an egg to go bad is that bacteria get inside and multiply. The egg material is the perfect food for bacteria to eat and incubation temperature is the perfect temperature for most bacteria to grow. But unless bacteria get inside the egg it's not going to multiply inside the egg.

About the last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is that she puts a liquid coating on it that we call bloom and the professionals call cuticle. That's why an egg looks wet as it is laid. That bloom quickly dries and forms a barrier that allows moisture to escape and oxygen to go in as carbon dioxide generated by the embryos breathing goes out. But it is a very effective barrier against bacteria getting inside the egg. The bloom is why a hen can lay eggs in a hidden nest (often on the ground) for two weeks until she gets a clutch and then incubate them for three more weeks until they hatch without bacteria getting inside.

But if the bloom gets compromised bacteria can enter the egg if bacteria is present. The bloom can be compromised by washing the egg or rubbing the surface with your thumb or sandpaper if you are trying to remove dirt. Cracks can be bad. A light dusting of dirt isn't bad but clumps of mud or poop can introduce bacteria so don't incubate heavily soiled eggs. As an added precaution sterilize your incubator before you use it and only handle the eggs with clean hands.

Some people seem to think that if an egg does not develop or an embryo dies the egg is more susceptible to going bad. Not really. If bacteria do not get inside the egg they can't multiply. There is nothing about an egg not developing or that stops developing that sucks in bacteria. If bacteria enter a developing egg that will kill the developing embryo but bacteria has to be present to multiply.

My dark green eggs are probably as hard to see inside as your dark Marans eggs. It can be really challenging to see any signs of development when candling. When I go into lockdown I'm mainly looking for the clears, the ones that never developed at all. I remove those, not because I'm afraid they are going to explode but just to make more room in the incubator for the ones that can hatch. It is easier to keep track of which ones have pipped and when they pipped if there are fewer eggs.

The way I check my eggs to see if bacteria is growing inside is to smell them. The egg shells are porous so if the rotten egg smell is inside the egg it will come out. I don't sniff each egg individually unless I'm candling but just give the incubator a sniff when I'm adding water.

If bacteria get inside the egg it can possibly explode but the egg shell is porous. Often a thick stinky liquid will ooze out instead of allowing pressure to build up to an explosion. Either way is horrible. It really stinks and can contaminate your other eggs. You want to avoid rotten eggs if you can at all. Check your eggs because anything can happen but the best precautions are to keep the bloom intact and keep things clean.

 

[Heartsopenwide]

I think you should just leave the eggs in for longer. Wait until three days after their hatching date, and try not to think about it. They could just have thick shells, I heard marans do. Can you send a photo?

I'll try again tonight. It is 16 eggs for one Cuckoo Marans. My Buff Orpington decided she isn't broody anymore. I wanted to remove any dead or non fertilized eggs to increase hatch rates of the viable ones...

 

[Heartsopenwide]

Usually in the dark eggs you can see a little bit of the air cell in a developing egg. If there is an air cell at all, that means you are or were in business. In terms of tracking the development of a Maran egg, nearly impossible.

If you are just putting a head lamp up to it, you are going to be losing quite a bit of light, making your task more difficult. You are going to want to find some thing that conforms to the egg shape, so none of that precious light escapes to the outside of the egg, basically concentrating the whole thing into that egg.

Take an empty toilet paper roll, put duct tape (or another dark tape or material on top) and cut a 3/4" hole in the top. Turn your light on, and put it in the opposite side of the TP roll and then put that side on a surface (table, book, etc). This will trap all the light in the TP roll, and concentrate it all out of the hole you cut in the tape - should give you a much better look. Also, make sure the room is pitch black. We use our closet for dark eggs.


This is not necessarily the best idea. Leaving an infertile egg, or one that died, can lead to your whole hatch getting infected when it explodes, as I am sure you are aware with previous experience hatching. After having experienced this first hand, our motto is when in doubt - throw it out.

My head lamp is pretty focused light, it has a base around it, but I'll try the toilet paper roll trick.

Some completely light up, so are those okay to disbatch? Several do have air sacks, I didn't know that was a fertilized egg thing....on the dark mass ones I don't see veins anywhere. Some have dark area and I can see what looks like fluid movement.

Is it too soon to start tossing bad eggs? Or should I wait longer? (Pretty sure the ones that completely light up are ok to toss?)

I am concerned with how many eggs she has (16 eggs for one Cuckoo Marans because my Orpington decided she wasn't broody anymore).

 

[Heartsopenwide]

They are not common. What causes an egg to go bad is that bacteria get inside and multiply. The egg material is the perfect food for bacteria to eat and incubation temperature is the perfect temperature for most bacteria to grow. But unless bacteria get inside the egg it's not going to multiply inside the egg.

About the last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is that she puts a liquid coating on it that we call bloom and the professionals call cuticle. That's why an egg looks wet as it is laid. That bloom quickly dries and forms a barrier that allows moisture to escape and oxygen to go in as carbon dioxide generated by the embryos breathing goes out. But it is a very effective barrier against bacteria getting inside the egg. The bloom is why a hen can lay eggs in a hidden nest (often on the ground) for two weeks until she gets a clutch and then incubate them for three more weeks until they hatch without bacteria getting inside.

But if the bloom gets compromised bacteria can enter the egg if bacteria is present. The bloom can be compromised by washing the egg or rubbing the surface with your thumb or sandpaper if you are trying to remove dirt. Cracks can be bad. A light dusting of dirt isn't bad but clumps of mud or poop can introduce bacteria so don't incubate heavily soiled eggs. As an added precaution sterilize your incubator before you use it and only handle the eggs with clean hands.

Some people seem to think that if an egg does not develop or an embryo dies the egg is more susceptible to going bad. Not really. If bacteria do not get inside the egg they can't multiply. There is nothing about an egg not developing or that stops developing that sucks in bacteria. If bacteria enter a developing egg that will kill the developing embryo but bacteria has to be present to multiply.

My dark green eggs are probably as hard to see inside as your dark Marans eggs. It can be really challenging to see any signs of development when candling. When I go into lockdown I'm mainly looking for the clears, the ones that never developed at all. I remove those, not because I'm afraid they are going to explode but just to make more room in the incubator for the ones that can hatch. It is easier to keep track of which ones have pipped and when they pipped if there are fewer eggs.

The way I check my eggs to see if bacteria is growing inside is to smell them. The egg shells are porous so if the rotten egg smell is inside the egg it will come out. I don't sniff each egg individually unless I'm candling but just give the incubator a sniff when I'm adding water.

If bacteria get inside the egg it can possibly explode but the egg shell is porous. Often a thick stinky liquid will ooze out instead of allowing pressure to build up to an explosion. Either way is horrible. It really stinks and can contaminate your other eggs. You want to avoid rotten eggs if you can at all. Check your eggs because anything can happen but the best precautions are to keep the bloom intact and keep things clean.

Today is day 9. Is it a safe bet to toss the clear ones when candled?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Today is day 9. Is it a safe bet to toss the clear ones when candled?

You are using a broody hen and have several eggs under her. How well can she cover them all? I've had a broody hen that hid a nest and brought 18 chicks off the nest so she could cover them all. I've had a broody hen that had trouble covering 12 eggs so I only gave her 10 eggs. If she cannot cover them all some will get pushed out from under her, cool off, and die. Then they get pushed back under her and another gets pushed out. So if she cannot cover them all you do need to remove some. If she can cover them all then you don't need to.

If you can tell that they are clear with no veins at 9 days those are good ones to remove. That can be challenging with dark eggs but concentrating the light and candling in a pitch dark room can help.

Several do have air sacks, I didn't know that was a fertilized egg thing

It is not. Whether the egg has an embryo in it or not, whether it is being incubated or not, the egg loses moisture through its porous shell. How much depends on how much moisture is in the air, whether the air is moving or not, and other things related to physics. That's why when you find a hidden nest full of eggs you can do the float test. If you put an egg in water, if it is old enough to have lost enough moisture it will float. If it is still pretty fresh it will sink. That doesn't tell you if the eggs are good or bad, just which are older.

 

[Heartsopenwide]

You are using a broody hen and have several eggs under her. How well can she cover them all? I've had a broody hen that hid a nest and brought 18 chicks off the nest so she could cover them all. I've had a broody hen that had trouble covering 12 eggs so I only gave her 10 eggs. If she cannot cover them all some will get pushed out from under her, cool off, and die. Then they get pushed back under her and another gets pushed out. So if she cannot cover them all you do need to remove some. If she can cover them all then you don't need to.

If you can tell that they are clear with no veins at 9 days those are good ones to remove. That can be challenging with dark eggs but concentrating the light and candling in a pitch dark room can help.


It is not. Whether the egg has an embryo in it or not, whether it is being incubated or not, the egg loses moisture through its porous shell. How much depends on how much moisture is in the air, whether the air is moving or not, and other things related to physics. That's why when you find a hidden nest full of eggs you can do the float test. If you put an egg in water, if it is old enough to have lost enough moisture it will float. If it is still pretty fresh it will sink. That doesn't tell you if the eggs are good or bad, just which are older.

They were all under her last I checked. She really flattens herself out...but she is still not a very big hen and I am concerned she will get up and not have them covered when she returns. She is barely covering them...