Good link for Candeling?

[Soap Junkie]

I have my first broody chicken, and she is a Isa Brown! Anyway, the first week she was mostly sitting on eggs and very little out of the box, how ever she would get out when I came in with food, then she would hop back in the laying box. After a week I was pretty sure she was going to stay on the eggs so I called a friend that has roosters and she brought me 10 eggs.

I dont have a rooster so no fertile eggs here. That week was a disaster, missing eggs and 2 others were out of the nest, one on the floor when I walked in and the other in a different laying box! Still cant figure out how she did that! So by the end of that week I was down to 5 eggs.

My friend brought me over 13 new eggs layed that day and I set up my broody in a large dog kennel with water and food by herself, still in the main coop though. So as of today she has been on them for 9 days.

First question is that I want to candle them, and I did try last night with a led flash light, but I really could not make out anything except the air pockets and what seemed to be dark blobs. I dont think my light is bright enough. I am going to look for a brighter light after work today.

So first question is does anyone know of a link here for step by step directions for candeling? I have been to the learning center and the pictures are great, but I want to make sure I am doing it right.

Second question is I am petrified that my broody will quit since it was actually 2 weeks she was broody before I got the 13 eggs under her. I am freaking out that she will decide she is done and I wont get any chicks! Not that I was even counting on having chicks with my Isa Browns, but now that I started I want chicks!

 

[gabrielle1976]

Have you tried going to youtube and looking for egg candleing videos ?

 

[Sphinx]

I had a hen go broody last summer. I'd just transferred a young cockerel into the coop, and wasn't sure if he was any good yet or not, but gave her a couple eggs. Turned out none were fertile just yet. After 3 weeks, nothing. I tried to break her of the broodiness, but had no luck. So, after 4-5 days of that, I gave her another batch of eggs. She sat on those just fine, and hatched out 4 chicks.

So, she was broody for about 7 weeks when it was all said and done.

You may want to have plans for an incubator just in case though.

I don't know that these are fantastic instructions, but here's how I candle eggs.

http://acaptivechicken.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-i-candle-eggs.html

 

[Soap Junkie]

I had a hen go broody last summer. I'd just transferred a young cockerel into the coop, and wasn't sure if he was any good yet or not, but gave her a couple eggs. Turned out none were fertile just yet. After 3 weeks, nothing. I tried to break her of the broodiness, but had no luck. So, after 4-5 days of that, I gave her another batch of eggs. She sat on those just fine, and hatched out 4 chicks.

So, she was broody for about 7 weeks when it was all said and done.

You may want to have plans for an incubator just in case though.

I don't know that these are fantastic instructions, but here's how I candle eggs.

http://acaptivechicken.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-i-candle-eggs.html

That is too funny, I already saw your blog! I was all over google looking for the correct things to do. Is it correct to put the wider part of the egg on over the light? I was holding them long ways and it was so hard to see. Not to mention they are brown eggs some darker some lighter, but I was having a dickens of a time seeing anything except the air pocket, and then I think my eyes were playing tricks on me cause I kept thinking that I was seeing something and then I couldnt see anything. It did seem like 2 of the eggs did not have a air pocket so they may be duds. I am going to the hardware store after work today to see if I can get a brighter light.

I am at work right now and I cant access youtube from here, they block it. It seems by the time I get home I dont have the time to turn on the computer! I may have to try though. Thanks 2 both of you. I guess I better look into an incubator just in case, still in shock that my first year of raising chickens and I have an Isa Brown of all things going broody!

 

[Sphinx]

Yes, definitely shine the light through the air pocket, which SHOULD be at the bottom (fat part) of the egg. Shipped eggs sometimes have wonky cells. Plus, if the egg is dark, the air cell can be very hard to see.

I had an egg hatch this morning that was a very dark olive color. I couldn't see a thing inside that egg, and was just crossing my fingers that it would hatch.

 

[Soap Junkie]

Yes, definitely shine the light through the air pocket, which SHOULD be at the bottom (fat part) of the egg. Shipped eggs sometimes have wonky cells. Plus, if the egg is dark, the air cell can be very hard to see.

I had an egg hatch this morning that was a very dark olive color. I couldn't see a thing inside that egg, and was just crossing my fingers that it would hatch.

Thanks Sphinx, I guess I will hit the hardware store after work and try again tonight. I will try from the bottom maybe that will be clearer.

 

[Pele]

Candleing is a bit of an art form, don't worry that it's confusing when you start. I know that I had to upgrade my flashlight that I use to a really high-beam one before I could see ANYthing in my eggs.

Sometimes you have to just try different angles and spots on the eggs to get a good view of what you want. I even give some of them a gentle rotation while candling so I can visually locate the embryo when it slushes past the light (good thing they can't get seasick). Just the other day, I found the proto-heart ring on my turkey eggs this way. I was able to watch it slowly beat!

Just keep candling, eventually those little developing buggers won't be able to hide from your expert eye

 

[Soap Junkie]

Candleing is a bit of an art form, don't worry that it's confusing when you start. I know that I had to upgrade my flashlight that I use to a really high-beam one before I could see ANYthing in my eggs.

Sometimes you have to just try different angles and spots on the eggs to get a good view of what you want. I even give some of them a gentle rotation while candling so I can visually locate the embryo when it slushes past the light (good thing they can't get seasick). Just the other day, I found the proto-heart ring on my turkey eggs this way. I was able to watch it slowly beat!

Just keep candling, eventually those little developing buggers won't be able to hide from your expert eye

Well not so expert, but I will surely keep trying! I will write back tomorrow to see if the higher power light is better. Thanks!

 

[cmfarm]

I find it easyer when useing a regular flashlight to angle it to the top side of the egg. Like not directly on top but more to the side. I think it covers the egg better and the light penetrates better. If you can get a flashlight with a small flashlight with a rubber ring on top I think those work the best, they shape better to the egg.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I found this to be helpful: http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs32.htm

With candling I have found two things to be the most helpful. The first is the room must be as dark as we can possibly make it. To accomplish this we try to do all of our candling after dark. The second is that NO light must escape from the candler except what is actually coming through the egg itself. These two things made a big difference in how well we got the job done.

Unless the eggs are white we do not ordinarily candle before day ten. The darker or more colored the shell the harder it is to see anything.