Candling question

[bradrenea]

I have a quick question about candling. I have not hatched more than a dozen eggs at a time and did not have a problem candling them quickly. I am getting ready to put 48 eggs in the incubator. It will take me a while to candle each one of them. How long can I leave the top off the incubator without causing problems?
What if I don't candle them? I know I run the risk of one blowing up and ruining the whole batch if I don't candle.
What should I do?

 

[Bock_Bock]

what i do is take periods of candling i had 52 in my bator but when i candled i left most of the bator covered by the lid, so only the eggs i will be candling at the time would be incovered as this also helps cuz the heat stays on and doesnt let out all the hot as as it is trapper in the top of the bator aka the bator lid but if u are worried just split it up do like half one night then the other half the next 1 day wil not matter

 

[greenesacres]

I just got a book about this yesterday. If interested I can send you title and author. Anyway, he says to UNPLUG the incubator, candle, replace lid and PLUG back in. He says the hen leaves the nest and the eggs cool down. If you leave the incubator plugged in, you loose heat fast and when you put the lid on it heats up quickly which is unnatural!

 

[slickchick]

I have 36 in my bator right now.. I'm on day 11 and candled last Friday. it took me about 5-6 minutes. When the hen leaves her nest to eat and drink, I'm sure it would take about that long, so I don't think any harm would be done in this amount of time. My eggs seem like they are developing fine right now....Even when you open it to turn them, just think of what a hen would do when she leaves the nest for a short time. I'm sure there are temp fluctuations from time to time when they are under a broody hen.

 

[bradrenea]

Thanks for the input!