Help! I don't know if my eggs are alive anymore!

[KSlacum]

We had a chicken that hoarded 13 eggs (lol) and she hatched 2, ate 1, and I told my parents I would incubate the others, which is 10. I took the eggs once I was for sure the chicken was done with them. I've had chickens since I was in 1st grade, and I've just recently completed my first year in college. I have a wide knowledge of chickens but we've never tried incubating ourselves. My parents work, so I'm in my room all day with these eggs. I made an incubator out of a cooler and whatever else I could find around the house. I bought a thermometer and hygrometer at the pet store and the temperature is stable at about 100-101.

We didn't know the chicken was laying until I was out of school and took over the duty of feeding the chickens and giving them water. I'm pretty sure the eggs are different ages, which is why I don't want to throw them out just yet. The other hens laid eggs in the same nest as the brooder. I read this one article where this person heard a loud pop and an egg exploded in their incubator I don't want that to happen in my room xD

My struggle is figuring out if the eggs are alive. I know a few have bodies in them, but as to whether or not they're alive is my concern. I looked up the float test but I've gotten mixed results with a lot of them. I had 1 go completely horizontal, 1 angle, 1 sinker, and the rest float vertically. I didn't know what the article meant by "movement in the egg" until I recently found a video on YouTube that demonstrated the movement. I'll do the test again after a while and watch for movement; the commotion in the cooler caused my temperature to drop.

I felt like I might have been too late checking to see if the hen got off her eggs. I checked around 6am yesterday, fell asleep, checked back at 11:30, and put them in my incubator. They were still a little warm, but only a little. I checked online to see how long fertile eggs can live without warmth and people said anywhere from 2-5 hours.

So I guess here's what I'm looking for answers for:

If I redo the float test and there is no movement, does this mean they are dead? Or could it mean something else such as limited space?
Should I try candling? What do I look for to suggest life?
Does anyone else have any other method I could try in order to test for life?


I'm sorry this is so long, but any input can help! Thanks c:

 

[ladylynch]

I would candle them and hold very still and see if u have movement on the inside it could be very slight or even jerky. I wouldn't recommend a float test the shell is very porous And u could wipe off the protective coating on the shell. Check for veins when u candle them.