Candling pheasant eggs

[SlowMoneyFarm]

OK so I tried candling these eggs tonight - not sure I'd see anything and on several I'm still not sure!

But I do have several that looked like a 'mass' in there - so far so good?!

They went in the incubator last Monday morning - so a week tomorrow.

However there was one I have a question on and two I couldn't tell anything...so 2 questions.
One I looked at the candling instructions on here and there was an example of one with 'spots' that was a bacterial infection...have 1 that looked like that (moon crater type look) - same 'diagnosis'? (I don't want to toss a good egg but gut feeling is this isn't a good one). I did mark it with a sharpie but wanted to check with those with more experience.

Two eggs I couldn't tell anything - not a shadow/trace/nothing...is it possible that shells are thick enough to not tell for sure?

Also I've got some chick eggs that need to go in a brooder and was wondering if I set some in tomorrow they'd be 'done' at the same time roughly? (21/28 days was what I've read chickens/pheasant)...Has anyone done this? Advised/not?

 

[SlowMoneyFarm]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/images/candlingDAY8/2.jpg is similar to the one - not as many 'holes' as this one and more on one end. no dark spot/area visible.

 

[SlowMoneyFarm]

No one candles pheasant eggs?

Or no one knows what they look like? How/where do we learn if there's no communication on pheasant forums? I get that most don't live online and that there's storms a lot of areas but I wouldn't ask if I could find the answers elsewhere.

 

[philter4]

Quote:
I candle mine and they look just like a chicken egg as far as the inside goes. At 3 or 4 days I can see the beginnings of blood vessels developing, at day 10 there is a definite embryo and at 20 days there is almost nothing but a large dark mass in the egg with only the air space visible. Look at photos of chicken egg candling, but don't compare day to day, chickens hatch in about 20 days pheasants 26 or more so the development is not an exact day to day match.

When I get an egg with those light spots in the shell, it usually doesn't hatch, I am not sure if it isn't fertile or there is something wrong with the development of the shell, but they never hatch for me.

 

[SlowMoneyFarm]

Thanks - that was my gut feeling but if there was any chance I didn't want to toss it. Several had (at 8 days) definite 'blobs' in them, a couple I couldn't see anything - ever had shells too thick to see through? Looked at the ? egg last night again and it doesn't really look different. The others looked hopeful.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I've had several pheasant eggs that were too dark to see through. However, after a week or two you can usually tell if there is something growing in them.

 

[Dogfish]

100 Lumen Streamlight flashlight works well on ringneck eggs. I'm a newb on pheasants, but it is fun.

That cratered looking egg is "porous". Basically thin spots in the shell. I've had some hatch, some not. Poorer production for me with those eggs (out of 100 total hatched this year, maybe 3 of those were porous, about 140 aggs set total, maybe 10 porous eggs set). Mine came from a hen coming back onto lay after a break. She took a week off. She is laying regularly now.

I've looked for 5 things when candling so far.

1. Moving embrio. Rotate the egg on its axis while shining the light from the side, check for shadows. Find the mass where it is closest to the shell, watch for movement. If it moves, good egg.

2. Blood vessels reaching out to the airsack. Good egg!

3. Egg glows as if the inside of the egg is all albumen (white). No mass, no movement, no blood vessels. Unferitlized egg.

4. Solid to faint red ring around the interior of the egg, no mass inside moving, no blood vessels reaching up. Sometimes at the equator of the egg, sometimes the upper third of egg. Bad egg.

5. Solid mass at the very top of the egg against the airsack. Almost looks dark green. Definitely not the yolk
in its normal position. Bad egg.

Hope that helps.

 

[SlowMoneyFarm]

Thanks - checked them again tonight and there's a couple I'm still not sure about. Others I see a definite air spot on one end and movement.

Also looked at some white chicken eggs -easier to see then 'train' my eyes what to look for. I hope. The one I questioned I'd removed. Hoping for at least a few from this hatch...first time trial. Appreciate the feedback - at least on the right path or not!