Candling duck eggs

RunnerDucks1221

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Hi everyone, day 7 for my runner ducks is Sunday September 30th!!! Just wondering if you guys have any tips on how to properly candle them? This is my first time incubating and I’m nervous I’ll damage the embryos or do something wrong in the process! I can open the incubator and remove each egg at a time to candle them correct? What happens if by opening the incubator several times to candle each one will damage each egg by having the temp decrease each time I open the incubator! Help?
 
Since a mother would leave the nest once a day to eat and drink, opening your incubator for a short while should mimic nature and cause no harm. Handle the eggs carefully, and don't drop them. :)
 
One thing, you want to be gentle with the eggs.
Another is to use a good Candling box instead of a flashlight.
There's no way you can see into an egg with a flashlight while being blinded by the flashlight.
Go get a oatmeal box, coffee can, shoe box and make sure its not clear, that it blocks the light. Put a quarter on lid and trace around it, you're about to cut a perfectly round hole the egg will rest in without falling thru. Put your flashlight, cell phone with light on, or some other very bright light source in there them put lid back on. put egg in lid hole pointy end down.
I currently use a Folgers coffee can with a hole in the black lid. But I used to have a shoe box that worked a Lot better. I took the shade off a small night lamp, took the bulb out, traced a perfect hole the same size as bulb screw in base on side of box, that way you can screw bulb thru the box and back into night lamp that lies on its side. A 100 watt bulb works really good. Cut a quarter sized perfect hole in shoe box lid over where the light is located. The closer to perfect circle hole the better so you aren't blinded again. After you get the bulb and lamp attached to shoe box, plug it back in and test that the light comes on. If it does, put lid on box and set an egg point down into the hole on top of box. If you have done this right, even most brown eggs will light up like a light bulb and you'll be able to see what is in there. Most of the time when you see all dark, that means the baby is almost completely developed and not far from hatch. But it could also be a bad egg. If it's bad, you can usually smell it thru the shell. Good luck!
 
I tried to candle my quail eggs at day 7 but could not see inside the egg with a narrow beam flashlight in a dark room. Any suggestions?
 

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