I candle between days 5 and 7, then anytime after that that I feel like, within reason. Usually about every 5 days til lockdown.
Quote:Depends on how much space I need to free up If I need the incubator space for more eggs, day 10 is the first time. That day you can be certain if you see a dark spot and veins. Also if you hold the egg and light really really still, you can sometimes see movement. If I spent a pretty penny on the eggs, I do candle at day 10 to see if there are issues with shipping, etc. I DO NOT EVER CRACK OPEN AN EGG UNTIL DAY 18. Then I open the 'clear' ones to check for fertility, etc. If I don't need the space, and did not spend a lot of money on the eggs, then I only candle on day 18 UNLESS I smell a rotten one when I open the incubator. I try to open it daily just in case there is a rotten one & I can catch it before it explodes
Since the increasing size of the air cell is a big deal and I need diagrams to know what I"m doing, I follow along with the diagrams at days 7, 14 and 18; by day 7 the sell had not changes so I removed the water in the wells and it took a couple days to dry the water residue from the foam.Really.I candle a few every few days to see if the air cell is getting bigger.
Quote: can't help ya there. Although I can say I have never noticed a difference in the size of the air cell much in chicken eggs until day 18 compared to the day I set them. It is a gradual change hard to notice unless you mark it on the eggs themselves. I really don't go by the size of the air cell. I do look for the lowest point of the air cell at lockdown, and I place that side up, if I am incubating them on the sides instead of a cut down egg carton. ETA: The lowest point of the air cell is where the pip usually is
