Candling issues day 14.

[Stefankeyes]

Hi. So 4 of my eggs in the incubator where already very hard to candle upon arrival on day 1. They are light color shells but I assume very thick. We have quite a bright flashlight that we tried candling with as well as the incubators own light. Very little light would pass through. It's been getting increasing difficult over the days to see progress of the eggs with candling. We are on day 14 now and decided to try candling tonight. But its got even darker that light just won't pass through. Is there an alternative to candling to ensure chicks development? I heard someone say weigh the eggs in one other post however don't have any good weighing scales. Would the weight change much over the development period? Maybe I can get a digital kitchen scale to try? I was able to very faintly see some shadows of what appeared to be feathers moving in the egg. But was very difficult to see. Just want to ensure I don't leave any deceased eggs in the incubator.

Many thanks

 

[nuthatched]

Hi there, are you able to post pictures?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I would get a real candler. Not just a flash light. Pics would be good!

 

[Stefankeyes]

Hi, sorry its the best my phone would take under the rooms low light. i know its not the best. the only thing that comes visible is the air sac. I hope its clear enough for everyone to be able to determine. Is a proper candler brighter? would it be worth me buying at day 14 when this is probably going to be the only batch ill try incubating? Many thanks to you both!

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

I use a high-powered flashlight and a candler interchangeably, just whichever I can find first. You don't need a candler, although they're cheap and work just fine as flashlights after you're done incubating so they're not necessarily a waste of money. The curved surface of the light source is very helpful for getting a clearer view.

I usually only candle 2-3x before lockdown and it gets very hard to see anything aside from the air cell by the time I do my second candling, usually either day 14 or day 18. At day 5-7 you can see some beautiful blood vessel structures, but once the chick fills out it goes dark!

The main issue here is that your air cell looks rather small for a chicken egg at day 14 (these are chicken eggs, right?). If I were you I would think about turning humidity way down until lockdown.

 

[Stefankeyes]

I use a high-powered flashlight and a candler interchangeably, just whichever I can find first. You don't need a candler, although they're cheap and work just fine as flashlights after you're done incubating so they're not necessarily a waste of money. The curved surface of the light source is very helpful for getting a clearer view.

I usually only candle 2-3x before lockdown and it gets very hard to see anything aside from the air cell by the time I do my second candling, usually either day 14 or day 18. At day 5-7 you can see some beautiful blood vessel structures, but once the chick fills out it goes dark!

The main issue here is that your air cell looks rather small for a chicken egg at day 14 (these are chicken eggs, right?). If I were you I would think about turning humidity way down until lockdown.

Hi and thanks very much for the info!!! Yes I was a bit worried about the air sacs. 2 seem small 1 seems average and 1 seems rather too large! Almost half the egg large. But as this is my first time ever incubating I really don't know what to make of it and if there is anything I can do to help the hatch rate? I have lowered humidity from around 50 down to 30 for now. Should that be OK do you think? It's a little tricky with my incubator to sustain humidity. While ti's automatic turning. The humidity is all manual. Many thanks

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

Hi and thanks very much for the info!!! Yes I was a bit worried about the air sacs. 2 seem small 1 seems average and 1 seems rather too large! Almost half the egg large. But as this is my first time ever incubating I really don't know what to make of it and if there is anything I can do to help the hatch rate? I have lowered humidity from around 50 down to 30 for now. Should that be OK do you think? It's a little tricky with my incubator to sustain humidity. While ti's automatic turning. The humidity is all manual. Many thanks

I'm a big fan of dry hatching with cheap incubators and have had some of my best hatches at 16-35% humidity until lockdown! Frustrating that you have air cells all over the place but personally I'd still lower humidity, since more of your eggs are likely to benefit from that. I'd wager there's something wrong with the other chick, sadly.

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

Oh, I should caveat the dry hatching thing for elevation — if you live more than a few thousand feet above sea level it's better to keep higher humidity throughout the hatch. But otherwise most people have very good results erring on the side of lower humidity until lockdown.

 

[Stefankeyes]

Oh, I should caveat the dry hatching thing for elevation — if you live more than a few thousand feet above sea level it's better to keep higher humidity throughout the hatch. But otherwise most people have very good results erring on the side of lower humidity until lockdown.

Ah. I hope the other chick comes out OK! I live in Scotland so the natural humidity is always fairly high. It really is a struggle to keep things at ideal conditions. If this hatch fails. Maybe after some time I can try get a more well known brinsea incubator and try again. There's a old tale which some farmers swear by that it's accurate. But the tale is that more pointed eggs will be roosters and more rounded will be hens. Have you got any experience of this? Curious to hear people's. If it's at all accurate. Then I may only have 1 hen

 

[HumbleAmerican]

My eggs look dark like that when I pull it from under the broody for a peak, except my air sacks are 1/4 of the egg.

I slide it back under her and only have had one egg not hatch.