Counting days to hatch.

[Jmash]

If I were to set eggs for hatching tomorrow (4/25) would I expect Hatch day to be 5/16 or 5/17?
I got this wrong last time... do you count the day you set?

 

[JaeG]

The day you set is counted as day zero then 24 hours later its day one. Your day 21 would start on the 16th at whatever time you put the eggs in (morning, midday, evening).

Good luck with your hatching.

 

[nao57]

So...I read that you can also test an embryo for 'life' by seeing if its moving inside.

But is it also possible that if its near birth that it may rest sometimes and not be moving but still alive also?

 

[JaeG]

So...I read that you can also test an embryo for 'life' by seeing if its moving inside.

But is it also possible that if its near birth that it may rest sometimes and not be moving but still alive also?

Candling (using a strong light in a dark room to see inside the egg) is the only reliable way to see what's happening in the egg, and sometimes even that's a bit of a guessing game. Brown or green/blue eggs are often challenging to see into. Float testing eggs is not reliable, especially for anything larger than a quail egg, because the weight of the foetus is enough to make the egg sink.

As long as you can see veins while candling you know the foetus is still alive. Veins very quickly die off if the foetus dies.