Hatch A Long

[Miss Lydia]

That’s amazing in all the eggs I have candled I’ve never seen that much red, so cool when you can see the little ones in there moving around!

 

[Duckie doodle]

Yeah I think it is so cool! It's hard to contain myself from looking at it everyday to check on them.

 

[Duckie doodle]

Are you not supposed to candle them often? Should I be candling them once a week or every other day?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I candle a lot every two - three days. I love to watch them develop. But mine are being brooded by a duck, not sure with an incubator how often you should open it. @WVduckchick can help you there.

 

[Duckie doodle]

I figured that I would ask because I have been told different things by different people. One person tell me not to during the first week then you can candle whenever you want after the embryo stage. Then another person told me that it doesnt matter how often as long as I always wash my hands after and before and that I am careful.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I like to go to someone I know that has experience and WV does.

 

[Duckie doodle]

Yes well that would be nice to know so that I don't end up killing the little buddy

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I candle a lot every two - three days. I love to watch them develop. But mine are being brooded by a duck, not sure with an incubator how often you should open it. @WVduckchick can help you there.

I'll answer since I'm here at the moment
And I I've learned much what I know about hatching from WV.
It's really up to you how much you want to candle. The candleing itself does not hurt a thing. In duck eggs I've been able to see development as early as 3 days. .it's pretty cool to see the little heartbeats during those early stages.
The risks are. .human error. . you could drop an egg. . or drop your flashlight on one. I've done that.
Or forget to put one back in the incubator. .done that too.
It's also possible you could introduce bacteria into your incubator. It's best to wash your hands and/or use gloves. . I don't use gloves anymore but I used to.
It does fluctuate your humidity and temp every time you open the bator. That part sort of depends on your incubator and how fast it warms back up and how hard it is to keep the humidity where you want it.
Too much turning is also a possible reason for mal positions, so you want to be somewhat careful about that also.
Some folks will say opening your incubator during lock down will ruin your entire hatch. But those of us who hatch call ducks throw caution to the wind and do it anyway watching for internal pips so we can track time in case assistance is needed. . which it is often is with calls.
Candleing is my favorite part of incubating. However, I do not do it as often as I did in the beginning. I haven't noticed a marked difference either way so far. So. . I say candle away if you please.
Just be reasonable about it.

 

[Duckie doodle]

Thank you @shawluvsbirds
This is my first time so I very much enjoy watching the development and the little babies growing and moving all around. I have been washing my hands everytime so that no bacteria gets on them. I originally had 13 eggs and I let the momma duck sit on them and she ended up missing some eggs like 1 or 2 every morning or I had to toss them because they rotted so I went and got a incubator and I am beginning the process like that, hopefully all continues to go well.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

That little fact about the turning is interesting. I had so many malpositioned with this hatch. I was turning every 90 minutes as that was the default setting.