First time incubating as a momma, All tips welcomed.

[MamaChick73]

This is my first time ever incubating in a Hovabator. I am hand turning them 2 times a day.. I have bought all my eggs on EBay. Some made it in one piece and some had 3-4 broken. I have been so careful with temps. I have a thermometer on top of my eggs and one below. They differ about 1/2 a degree which I can live with. I lost all of the first batch due to a climb in temp to 104, ( that was on my home made cooler incubator). The humidity on my hovabator is perfect 50-59 and my second batch is progressing very well. When candling I find 4 out of five have movement and veins. The darker eggs are almost impossible to see through and it's frustrating. I have named my eggs (Is that weird)? I include two pictures of day 7 development. The "Chickoletta" egg looks great with lots of veins and movement. The second is "Belle" and also has great movement. I have so much trouble seeing through dark shells because I can not tell if the dark spot is the yoke or a chick. Blood vessels are impossible to see or even the black spot. I worry too because the air cell seems to be on one side of the egg and not the top of the egg. I don't want to throw it out as there is still a chance I'm just not able to see through the dark shell. What are some great tips on candling dark eggs? Thanks everyone for your patience with a newbie.

 

[br0nc0]

Well the egg in the pic looks good in my opinion.. I would turn them at least 3 times a day though... That is so they don't always spent the night on the same side (for example 9 am, 3 pm and 9 pm). Maybe the humidity is a bit too high (45-50 works best for me) but that depends on you climate and other factors.

Dark shelled eggs are tricky, there isn't much you can do, just get the brightest light you can and hope for the best.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This is my first time ever incubating in a Hovabator. I am hand turning them 2 times a day.. I have bought all my eggs on EBay. Some made it in one piece and some had 3-4 broken. I have been so careful with temps. I have a thermometer on top of my eggs and one below. They differ about 1/2 a degree which I can live with. I lost all of the first batch due to a climb in temp to 104, ( that was on my home made cooler incubator). The humidity on my hovabator is perfect 50-59 and my second batch is progressing very well. When candling I find 4 out of five have movement and veins. The darker eggs are almost impossible to see through and it's frustrating. I have named my eggs (Is that weird)? I include two pictures of day 7 development. The "Chickoletta" egg looks great with lots of veins and movement. The second is "Belle" and also has great movement. I have so much trouble seeing through dark shells because I can not tell if the dark spot is the yoke or a chick. Blood vessels are impossible to see or even the black spot. I worry too because the air cell seems to be on one side of the egg and not the top of the egg. I don't want to throw it out as there is still a chance I'm just not able to see through the dark shell. What are some great tips on candling dark eggs? Thanks everyone for your patience with a newbie.

That humidity is pretty high for incubation, especially in a styro, unless you are in a high elevation or the air cells are overly large for the stage they are on. Shipped are risky, especially where air cells are concerned, often you will get misshapenned, saddle cells.
Candling dark eggs can be a pain. A bright light and dark room will help, but sometimes it's just not enough. I'm going to leave you with a couple links. I think the humidity link will help:
http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
http://hatching411.weebly.com/

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Well the egg in the pic looks good in my opinion.. I would turn them at least 3 times a day though... That is so they don't always spent the night on the same side (for example 9 am, 3 pm and 9 pm). Maybe the humidity is a bit too high (45-50 works best for me) but that depends on you climate and other factors.

Dark shelled eggs are tricky, there isn't much you can do, just get the brightest light you can and hope for the best.

X2 on the turning an odd number of times (I do 3, some people prefer 5) and on the humidity. I have FBCM eggs in my incubator and am running it at 30% humidity. There are several threads specifically on humidity for hatching FBCM eggs, here's one where many posters endorse dry hatching them: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/626300/black-copper-marans-dry-or-humid-incubation.

You may also find this article on hatching dark eggs that discusses sanding them to help promote evaporation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-dark-eggs. I haven't used this method, myself, but would consider it for future hatches if I don't have a good hatch rate this time.

Best wishes for a good hatch!

 

[MamaChick73]

Thank you everyone for your input and good advice. I got the humidity down to 50%. And am turning them more often. I know I took a big risk on shipped eggs. I'm anxious to see if they hatch.