Help with candling.... PLEASE!

[mags2009]

Hi, I am on day 8 of incubating my first hatch. Black Copper Marans, Welsummers, and Blue Ameracaunas. I just tried to candle using a flashlight, and all I can see is blobs with an airsac I guess on one end. Are they duds or are they ok? I just can't see any veins, but maybe because I have darker eggs? Also, my humidity went down to 30% from opening the bator from candling, is this bad? Thank you...

 

[Hennypen]

1st time hatcher here but I'm only on day 10 and what you describe sounds about right.

No blobs are duds.

 

[Gypsy07]

If in doubt, DON'T chuck out! It won't hurt to keep suspected duds in the bator a while longer just to be sure. I remember my first hatch - when I candled for the first time on day 9 I couldn't see anything at first and I thought they were ALL duds. Took me a while to realise I had to turn each one round and round till I saw anything, and the little black splotch in each of them was actually the embryo!

I've never been able to candle effectively with just a flashlight btw. I prefer a much brighter light than most flashlights give off. I usually hold the egg in my hand so as to block off light round the edges, then I hold it up very briefly to a 100W spotlight bulb. Even then with darker eggs it can be hard to see very much!

As for the humidity drop you mention, I don't think that will cause problems. Humidity isn't nearly as important as keeping the temperature steady, at least not for the first 18 days anyway. Once you go into lockdown keeping the humidity up is crucial, but a few minor fluctuations before then shouldn't matter at all.

BTW, I've seen a lot of discussion on here about humidity requirements for Marans eggs being slightly different from other eggs due to the extra thickness of the shells. I think that they maybe require less humidity? I don't know much about it, but it might be worth your having a look into it to see what the Marans fanatics advise. Good luck!

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Use the brightest flashlight you can find and shine the flash light through the area where the air cell is that way you can see if there are veins or not. If you see veins DO NOT chuck them!

 

[MissDeb]

I just hatched out two (that's all I had at the time) Black Coppers and they were at 65-70% for lockdown. With two unsuccessful hatches before that I had to try something. I know many
suggest dry incubation, but I wont ever go back to it. Two out of two....pretty good odds to me!

 

[mags2009]

Thanks everybody, I just love this site....always helpful info! I am now holding steady humidity wise at 45%. Don't know if that's good or bad. I keep hearing conflicting stories, higher humidity, (40-50%) and lower humidity (30-40%) I guess it's just a waiting game, and we shall see!

 

[MissDeb]

I usually hang around 45% + or - a little..

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Dark egss are harder to see in, that is why I use a 100watt bulb and place a box over the top that I have cut a hole about the size of a quarter. It works well, just remember to turn it off in between eggs. It will get hot.

 

[Peep_Show]

I was having a horrid time with candling the brown chicken eggs... Until I got the Cool-Lite. OMG!!!!! The beauty of this thing is that you don't even have to take the eggs out of the turner to candle. You get to see veins, embryos, and today I had one little guy flapping its wings at me. If the egg is a dud, it just glows clear.... On some that I would have chucked I could see pulsating movement, so they're not duds yet, just really weird...probably will kack by Day 14. Too, I could clearly see which of my eggs are questionable due to detached air cells .

I will NEVER go back to a flashlight again. This is the best $19 I ever spent!!!!!

 

[Cattitude]

I'm in the same spot as you... first time incubating, and couldn't see much when I tried to candle them. So I decided to sacrifice the most porous egg in the batch to see if anything was happening. It was!

And now I feel all awful, even tho the egg didn't get "wasted" (I gave it to the dog); still it was a chick! Anyway, now I know a little better what I'm looking for and what I'm seeing inside the egg.

Don't be discouraged! Give those eggs a chance!

Oh, and a few of my wee ones...