Why are you afraid to candle them? Is it that you're thinking you'll be let down if they're fertile then don't survive to hatching? I can understand it if so, but we candle once per week to dispose of anything that didn't survive. You don't want to leave an egg without a viable embryo in the nest to get broken. If you've never smelled that, you don't want to start now
Are you incubating or is one of your hens sitting on them?
Yes Im afraid to be let down. Im incubating them. I have 10 large eggs from the pekin or pekin cross girls and 3 small call eggs.
For the first 3 years I had a pacific black drake (Wist, pictured in my avatar) and 2 pacific black females. Never even one egg.
Then I lost Talli and got my pekin and 2 part pekins. Everybody laid eggs, everybody sat. The little pacific black female had her nest destroyed by one of the females and I didnt rescue the eggs in time. All other eggs died at about 3 weeks dispite promising heartbeats at 2 weeks. I thought maybe it was bad mothering as it was all the girls first years and they werent sitting well.
Next year I lost my little pacific black female and got the incubator. When the pekin eggs all died at 3 weeks I had to assume that 2 were mules. Ive heard pekin crosses often are.
So last year I got my calls, because calls are suppose to cross well with pacific black. Now Ive still got wist plus two call drakes - and a female that thinks its a drake - as well as 3 big girls, a muscovy and a call female.
I know the incubator works fine because I hatched some squabs in there. I suppose Im scared to get my hopes up, but Im also scared that the problem was my little Wist all along. If everyones eggs hatch this year then it was my drake that was the problem, and its HIS babies I want the most! He was the first bird I ever hatched by incubation and I didnt know much then, he was lucky to hatch at all and he's always been a bit slow...Never see him breeding anyone especially now with the other drakes very active about it.
They've been in 7 days today, I know Ive got to candle sooner or later.