Candling eggs. Help!!!

[hannahhammonds]

I got some eggs from my inlaws they are all at different stages two had the blood line. one seems maybe 10days another maybe 15-17. Then the rest are either 3-4 days. And there is like 3 eggs that are completely dark and the air pocket is a little bigger then a quarter or so and I see no movement I don't know how many days they are I cannot see at all what should I do? I have now had the eggs for four days and three nights. How do I find out if they are still alive. Or how to know how old they are.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, hannahhammonds, and

! Great to have you aboard! I'm a hatching novice but here is the incubating & hatching section of the Learning Center: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks
There are several useful articles there - including candling. And here's a link to the actual hatching forum where you can post questions: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs
Hope you find some useful advice. Best wishes!

 

[Kismet Farms]

How many days have they been incubated?

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[CuzChickens]

Hi there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! I am a total hatching and incubation rookie, but hopefully someone who knows a bit more on the subject will chime in. I hope you enjoy BYC!

 

[Pyxis]

!

Sounds like you have quite the staggered hatch going, so unless you have two incubators that's going to be tough. The ones that are almost completely dark except for the air cell could be very close to hatching. Compare to this chart to see roughly how far along all your eggs are:

You can tell eggs are alive as you will see veins and the embryo will likely squirm around when you candle and if you tap gently on the egg. The ones that are almost completely dark you can gently tap on and see if you see any movement. There is the float test that you can do, but that's not usually done until past the due date and since you don't know when that is it would be hard to know when to do it. I've personally never done it myself.

Lock down is when you're going to run into problems if you only have one incubator.

 

[hannahhammonds]

How will I know when it's lock down? I am trying to go by how big the air sack is as well. Will the air sack always be big at 18 days.

 

[hannahhammonds]

They have been In The incubator for 3 days now. Also thank you all for the welcome as well sorry just want everything to go smooth I am a worry wort about them.

 

[hannahhammonds]

Also would the other side of the egg be lit up or dark? And if it is lit up, but near the air sack is dark what's that mean? Some air sacks are about as big as a 50 cent peace. And are now so dark I can't see anything just some smaller veins.