Candling

[lablover]

It's day 6 with 11 eggs under a broody. I went to lock everything up and decided to candle a few just by reaching under her and getting what I could reach. How exactly should I hold the egg, and what am I looking for? I have EE, BR, and Australorp eggs. The brown eggs were easy to see through, but I really couldn't see anything. However, it didn't look as clear as the eggs I gathered today did. (I looked at those to compare) The blue eggs were pretty much impossible to see through, but again I could see through a little bit with the fresh blue eggs. Now I'm so worried that I have a bunch of duds under her!!

 

[lablover]

I went back with a different light and did see two embryos for sure in two brown eggs. The others I looked at seemed to be just dark on one side. So what am I doing wrong? I know these aren't great pics, they're just what I snapped while there since I didn't do all of them. The first two of are the same egg. The third pic is an example of it being dark on one side, though not a great pic. The fourth has an embryo?? Also, They did smell a bit, but mostly like a stinky dog/old, dirty sneaker.

 

[spotsplus]

Are you seeing any veining? If you see just a dark shape inside without any veining it may not be a viable egg- you will always see veining on a egg that is progressing normally. It's really hard to tell by the photos but I couldn't see any veins.

 

[lablover]

I can see veins in some of the brown ones, and I did see what I assume is the embryo. It's a small black dot, that kept moving and floating around. I'll candle between 9-11 days since by then there will likely be enough stuff for me to see. The green and blue shells are just impossible to see through, and 1 brown egg is like that....