Day 7 candling

[TheMightyRooster]

Hi folks, new to incubating here. So I have a Brinsea maxi II advance and my eggs are on day 7 of incubation so I candled them to see how they’re getting on. Temperature has always stayed at 37.5 - 37.6. Never seen any other than this. Also for humidity I’ve always kept 1 half of the reservoir filled with water and I will only open the lid for a maximum of 45 seconds to quickly fill the water reservoir. However when candling, some eggs seem like they’re developed but the bottom half of the egg is completely empty. Almost like a second air bubble. Is this normal? Or should I wait till a later stage to candle again? The first pic seems normal but the second egg is the one that’s concerning. Many thanks in advance

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Is egg #2 a shipped egg? That looks like a saddled air cell to me.

 

[TheMightyRooster]

Is egg #2 a shipped egg? That looks like a saddled air cell to me.

No it’s an egg from one of my hens. Been handled the same way as egg #1. There seems to be the regular air cell towards the bottom of the egg but then there is this huge empty space so not sure what’s going on. They are also turning side to side every 45 mins if that’s any help.

 

[Mellowmalt]

yes to have a large clear area is normal. It's the egg white. It just becomes more noticebale as the rest of the egg darkens

The only reason egg #1 looks different to egg #2 is because the shell is much darker so you can't see the clear space too well . If you look at the picture real closely you will notice a very faint line running parallel, just above your thumb, that is the divider between the clear area and the embrio.

Eventualy the embrio grows and fills out the clear space with its body.

The only worrying thing is that egg #2 appears not to have an air cell. This could be quite problematic. Can you check and confirm? Candle both ends and see if there is a small hollow space. If not it hasn't got an air cell and imo has a very loe chance of hatching if that is the case.

 

[TheMightyRooster]

yes to have a large clear area is normal. It's the egg white. It just becomes more noticebale as the rest of the egg darkens

The only reason egg #1 looks different to egg #2 is because the shell is much darker so you can't see the clear space too well . If you look at the picture real closely you will notice a very faint line running parallel, just above your thumb, that is the divider between the clear area and the embrio.

Eventualy the embrio grows and fills out the clear space with its body.

The only worrying thing is that egg #2 appears not to have an air cell. This could be quite problematic. Can you check and confirm? Candle both ends and see if there is a small hollow space. If not it hasn't got an air cell and imo has a very loe chance of hatching if that is the case.

Thank you for your reply. Just had a quick look and there isn’t an obvious ring either end but there is a very small pocket on the rounded end of the egg. Very hard to take a picture of but it definitely doesn’t look like the air cell like pic #1

 

[Mellowmalt]

That egg has unfortunately got some defect it seems. See how it goes, it might be ok, if not, nothing much you can do. I hope you have enough eggs, some early quitters are to be expected.

 

[TheMightyRooster]

That egg has unfortunately got some defect it seems. See how it goes, it might be ok, if not, nothing much you can do. I hope you have enough eggs, some early quitters are to be expected.

Could that be due to anything on my part or is it just one of those things. And I’ve got 14 incubating at the moment so would be very happy with 50% hatch rate for my first every time

 

[sassychickens76]

How many hatched?

 

[TheMightyRooster]

How many hatched?

I had 11 out of 14 hatch on my first attempt ever which I was pleased with. 1 egg was unfertilised, 1 egg unfortunately was pretty much fully developed but still had the yolk left to absorb and the last one the yolk was a reddish/orange colour but no embryo so I’m guessing it died pretty early on.

 

[sassychickens76]

That is a pretty good hatch, I have had a broody hen hatch eggs, one baby out of 5 eggs, he died as a chick. (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-hen.1451733/) (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/head-injury-on-chick-help.1458663/) I am trying to hatch with an incubator. (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-incubation-thread.1464042/) I have 7 Cochin Bantam eggs in it. Good luck with future hatches!