First Egg Candling

[JLeigh]

So, I have 14 eggs in the 'bator. When I put them in on 5/19, I candled them and they were all as expected - clear. The eggs also seemed a little "watery" inside. Today I candled them for the 1 week candle, and in 8 of the eggs, there is definitely a "dark half" that indicates keet development, right? I compared what I saw to PeepsCA's photos on another thread, and they look very similar, but only seem half full. Of course, they are going to grow...(duh)....I moved one egg around, and the dark half seemed to roll around in the egg. Did I just kill it?

There are a few eggs that are questionable, and a few that are still as clear as they were on day one. I'm keeping them all in the 'bator for another few days to a week to see what develops. I'll take the totally clear ones out and toss then. The other three, I hope develop. If they don't I'll wait a few more days, and then they'll go out, too. I saw zero veining, but that doesn't worry me - - or should it?

Am I on the right track? (Please say yes, please say yes.......)

 

[PeepsCA]

Sounds like you are on track, and as long as the watery motion wasn't in the air cells, and the air cells are staying in place at the top of the egg, the eggs should be fine... (but sometimes air cells can be dislodged during shipping, which isn't good). Candling, and turning while candling has never killed any of my developing eggs, and when I first started incubating I candled A LOT, lol. I think the 8 that you say look close to my egg candling pic sound viable and developing to me, (and it does just start out as a dark half, but the color difference/contrast is most obvious at the end where the air cell is), but by 8 days you should start seeing veins, and definitely by 10 days. As long as the clear and questionable eggs aren't seeping or stinky, they should be ok to leave in a while longer just to make sure they aren't late bloomers. Good luck!

 

[JLeigh]

Peeps, so let me make sure I understand. The air sac should stay in the same place no matter which way I turn the egg? If the keet is in the pointy end, it should still be in the pointy end if I turn the egg pointy end up or down?

 

[PeepsCA]

The developing keet/embryo will move around within the fluid of the egg as you move the egg around candling it (this is normal), but the air sac and veining should be stationary no mater if you slowly spin the egg, tilt it, or even turn it upside down. At this stage tho all you are going to be able to see is the color change and maybe some slight veining if your light is bright enough. The air cells should be really obvious/visible in the developing eggs, close to what my candling pics look like.

 

[JLeigh]

I think I'm going to have to go look again. The dark part (the keet) moved around in the egg. I don't know about the air sac, and I couldn't see any veining yet. It makes sense to me that the air sac is always at the top, no matter which way the egg is turned, because the air should rise above the keet, but this is weird science to me. Should the air sac remain on the top - no matter which way you turn the egg - or should it just remain opposite the dark area?

I'm sorry to be so stupid. Thanks in advance for your patience, even if you're faking it. .

 

[PeepsCA]

Sorry if I confused you, but I meant the air cell should stay stationary at the big end of the egg, no matter how you turn or move the egg. The membrane is attached to the inside of the egg shell, and the air cell which is connected to/part of the membrane shouldn't move, ever, but the yolk will still move around in the egg some. At 6 days, you are just seeing the yolk darkening due to cell division and early development, the embryo isn't even the size of a pea yet. If you don't see veins yet, you usually won't see an embryo yet either. You will know it tho when you finally do see the embryo, and especially a little further along when it moves around on it's own kind of like it's trying to get away from the light. It almost looks like a little pinkish colored fish or tadpole wiggling around in the egg... kind of weird but neat at the same time, lol. That stage doesn't last ling tho, they really start growing fast after that point.

 

[PeepsCA]

PS...
I'm not faking it, LOL... I was in the same boat as you when I first started out, and luckily had lots of nice people helping me thru the process and patiently answering all my questions. So I'm just paying it forward, plus I wanna help make this a fun experience for you

 

[JLeigh]

Thanks Peeps. I really appreciate all the help I get here. The info and support DOES make it fun, and there is a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to share.

I went down and looked again at the eggs. I have an expensive (hubby will use it in his business when it's not being used to candle) flashlight, LED, 181 lumens. Even that isn't enough to see what I'd like to see. No matter. Anyway, I did get enough light to see what you mean about the yolk/embryo. I DID see a little "thing" inside the dark yolk, but only in one egg. It was just a wee bit darker than the yolk. I'm still not sure about the air sacs though. I didn't see them, but then maybe I'm not sure of what to look for. But if the veining isn't supposed to move, then I saw veining much like what I could sort of discern in your candling photographs. Probably. I think. If the darker area is larger in a week, then I'll know they're doing what they should - growing.

I'm 95% sure there are three eggs that are infertile, or not viable. They haven't changed one bit since the day I got them. I expected that. I'm leaving them in for another week though - just to see what happens. There are three that are ???. I've marked them all with pencil to keep track.

This candling thing is tricky. If I get 7 or 8 keets, I'll be on cloud 9.

 

[daylily]

JLeigh I still don't think I have this candling thing down that great but I have just been using a mini-mag lite for my candling in a very dark room.

I candle a lot every couple of days. And some I thought were not viable last week are now viable so who knows what is going on inside those little shells. I think they are all just growing at different rates. Don't worry that air sac is VERY visible as they get going longer. Mine are very large now and the egg inside is mostly dark in some and not so dark in others, but they are growing.

Lock down is tomorrow. Day 23 so the others will just take the whole 28 days + or -.

 

[PeepsCA]

Leigh, in my candling pic (I'll post it here again so you don't have to switch back and forth between threads)...

Can you see the lighter space (air cell) at the top of the egg in the pic? Do you see the same thing in your eggs?

Daylily, when you have time, read my last post on my hatching journal thread, I have some concerns about your incubator set up and temp that may effect your hatch...