help with knowing if an egg is good dueing incubation

[linz44]

I'm hatching green and brown eggs and I am having a hard time figuring out if the eggs are okay. I candled the first time in the beginning and they all had veins and looked good. I'm now 4 days away from the 21 day Mark and I can't tell which are good and which are not. I candled and the brown eggs are so dark I can't really see much and the green eggs are looking okay but again I can't see much besides a bit dark blob. Of anyone has any ideas it would be awesome! I need all the help I can get. Im about to go into lockdown and I'm scared of a rotten egg blowing up! No eggs stink but one egg does have a dark band around the egg. In thinking this is the "blood ring" would this be correct? I've marked the air cells and some have gotten a lot bigger and some haven't grown since day 14. I also read about the water float test, should I try this out and if anyone has done it, what do I look for? I'm at the end of the hatch and I did find an article on the float test but it explained what to look for half way thru the hatch. Would the results still be the same?

 

[azjustin]

All we have is brown and green eggs...

We only candle on day 18 and with a good LED flashlight, in the (mostly) dark, there is a stark difference between eggs you'd hatch vs. discard. Early quiters or non-fertiles are almost translucent compared to anything that has, or had, life in it.

If it's dark, it goes into the hatcher. If there's any hint of smell, the offending egg will be located and tossed. Never had one to date but I typically check for cracks or porosity before anything goes into the incubator anyways.

Other people do it differently, but we try to handle the eggs as minimally as possible. If it's going to hatch, it's going to hatch. Not much in between if temp and humidity are followed correctly.

Just my opinion, others will vary. Pick what works for you and stay with it.

Good luck.

 

[FridayYet]

The float test won't tell you much. If the egg wiggles in the water, the chick is alive. If it doesn't wiggle, the chick still may be alive.

Azjustin gave you some good advice - I'd just leave them all in unless you smell something bad. The eggs should be mostly dark inside by now, and I'm guessing the ones with the growing air cells are still on track. If the egg is mostly clear, it's a quitter. Use a good flashlight in a dark room and candle from the air cell down into the egg. Also check the pointy end, and see how much clear space is there, If it's a lot, the egg has probably quit.

Good luck with your hatch!

 

[linz44]

Thank you! I think there seems to be way too much room in most of the eggs

I have been having a lot of trouble with the temps fluctuating way too much so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I saw a few eggs last time I candled and they looked like there was a tiny black blob no bigger than a quarter. None stink so I left them all in the bator as you suggested. I would hate to throw out a good egg. I hope my hatch isn't as bad as it appears. There are only about 6 eggs that look decent with growing air cells and looking like the black area is larger than the other ones. I think a lot of them started to grow and quit. This is the first day of lockdown so I guess I will know soon if they are good or not. I hope I at least get some from this hatch!