Candling Eggs... Concerned

[chriwils]

This is my first time incubating eggs, and I am doing it with my kindergarten class. Today is day 10, and I candled the eggs. I can see evident veins in a few eggs, but in some all I see is a very dark mass. The dark mass looks different from a regular egg that is not developing, so I am thinking that their might be something going on in there? Maybe? It is hard to get my classroom completely dark, so maybe that is why I am having a hard time seeing all of the details. The hallway lights are always on in the school, and those lights shine into my classroom. I am a novice, so I really have no idea. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

 

[lazy gardener]

Without complete darkness and a very bright candling light, it's impossible to get a good view. Some eggs are also more difficult b/c of shell color. Is there a closet in your class room? What about taking the eggs to the bathroom? Or are there windows in there also? Is there a janitor's closet that you could use? If your school has an after hours lock down policy, surely, you could take those eggs to a closet somewhere during the day to candle them.

 

[chriwils]

Yes, those are all options for sure. Thanks for your input! I was mainly concerned with the fact that I may have some eggs in my incubator that are not fertile, and I have been told to remove them, but I am not sure what I should be seeing at this point.

 

[GreenbrierChickens]

Could be a gross pic, but this is a 10 day old egg that cracked when the hen pushed it out of the box. I opened it up and the membrane stayed in tact.

 

[MelissaRose]

That's so cool! great pic!

 

[beckycrouch5115]

I am following this thread. I have 7 eggs under a broody hen right now and this is my first go at it also. I'm gonna candle them this weekend. I have never done that before. I did order a candling flash light so maybe it'll help me out. Wishing you luck on your babies!! I am also a school teacher and I may try to do that with my school kids to!!!

 

[Kiki]

You may be interested in these pictures:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-pics-progression-though-incubation.261876/

 

[Kiki]

Also I'd like to mention a bright flash light with at least 500 lumens makes a huge difference to me, as far as what I see in an egg, compared to a 200 lumens light.