Fertile or Infertile

[stm_96]

Hey all! Can someone please post some pictures of some of their fertile or infertile eggs during the first week of incubation so i can get an idea of what to look for when i candle.

 

[WVduckchick]

This is what you want to see.
Infertile ones will just be yellow/orangish color with no spider web blood vessels.

 

[stm_96]

This is what you want to see.
Infertile ones will just be yellow/orangish color with no spider web blood vessels.

When does the veining start? Around what day?

 

[WVduckchick]

When does the veining start? Around what day?

Depends on the shell and your light source, as to when you can see them. Sometimes as early as day 3-4, but definitely don't count any as infertile unless you don't see any veins by day 10ish (some even say day 14). When you have other eggs to compare to, its much easier to see the difference, so its possible to rule some out by day 7 or so, but I try to wait till day 10 to be certain.

Flashlights putting off at least 200+ lumens are great to candle with. The higher the lumens the better. (although don't go crazy with 1000+ lumens lol) And always use fresh batteries!!

Dark shells, such as black copper marans, welsummers, etc. can be very difficult to candle, some folks leave them in the entire time, unless they start stinking. I used to breed lavender orpingtons, and their shells were very light pink-ish color, but for some reason were super hard to candle. Dense shells, I suppose. I'd wait 14 days before tossing any of them.

 

[WVduckchick]

Here's a good article on development -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/development-of-a-chicken-embryo-day-by-day.72537/

 

[stm_96]

What's the black dot? Late tonight will make day 3. Its the only one that has this.

 

[stm_96]

Depends on the shell and your light source, as to when you can see them. Sometimes as early as day 3-4, but definitely don't count any as infertile unless you don't see any veins by day 10ish (some even say day 14). When you have other eggs to compare to, its much easier to see the difference, so its possible to rule some out by day 7 or so, but I try to wait till day 10 to be certain.

Flashlights putting off at least 200+ lumens are great to candle with. The higher the lumens the better. (although don't go crazy with 1000+ lumens lol) And always use fresh batteries!!

Dark shells, such as black copper marans, welsummers, etc. can be very difficult to candle, some folks leave them in the entire time, unless they start stinking. I used to breed lavender orpingtons, and their shells were very light pink-ish color, but for some reason were super hard to candle. Dense shells, I suppose. I'd wait 14 days before tossing any of them.

I posted a picture of one of the eggs i just candled can you check it out for me please?

 

[WVduckchick]

I posted a picture of one of the eggs i just candled can you check it out for me please?

Looks fertile! But it’s still a bit early to be sure, so don’t count the others out yet. Sometimes the development is closer to the shell where we can see it better. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the egg and a little more obscure.
The black dot we see first is the eyes.

 

[stm_96]

Looks fertile! But it’s still a bit early to be sure, so don’t count the others out yet. Sometimes the development is closer to the shell where we can see it better. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the egg and a little more obscure.
The black dot we see first is the eyes.

Yay! Lol! The others have shadowing, not sure if they are always gonna have the shadow regardless if they are fertile or not? This is my first time incubating eggs. But from some things I've seen, if they are not fertile, doesn't the whole egg light up with no shadowing?

 

[WVduckchick]

Yay! Lol! The others have shadowing, not sure if they are always gonna have the shadow regardless if they are fertile or not? This is my first time incubating eggs. But from some things I've seen, if they are not fertile, doesn't the whole egg light up with no shadowing?

Not sure exactly what you are referring to. Maybe you are seeing the yolk? Some are more visible than others. I think it’s kinda like when you open an egg and some the yolk is more orange color, sometimes more yellow. I think the hens diet dictates much of that, so maybe that’s what you are seeing. Once all the blood vessels get going, you won’t see the shadowing much. But if it’s infertile, you’ll still see it, you just won’t see any blood vessels.