How confident are you at candleing?

[Compost-sniffer]

So I've never hatched chicken eggs before.

As I've been reading, some people say you can tell when an egg is fertilized after three days, some say to wait until seven, and even others say that they can for sure tell if an egg is doing something after just 24 hours.

So what about you guys? When do you personally feel like you can tell for sure that something is going on in the egg?

 

[MGG]

So I've never hatched chicken eggs before.

As I've been reading, some people say you can tell when an egg is fertilized after three days, some say to wait until seven, and even others say that they can for sure tell if an egg is doing something after just 24 hours.

So what abut you guys? When do you personally feel like you can tell for sure that something is going on in the egg?

If they're light eggs, I can tell if they're fertile and developing at about the 24 hour mark.
You can see the enlarged blastoderm, which doesn't happen in infertile eggs. Since you're a beginner though, I'd wait until day five. Candling on day five is way more exciting than candling on day seven. On day seven the embryo is getting bigger and can move on it's own, and if you don't know what you're looking at it's confusing. On day five you can see the embryo surrounded by spider veins, the heart beating, and the little dark eye. Way cooler.
Do not toss any eggs until day 12 though, and before doing so start a thread and post some pics to confirm they're not developing.
Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Iluveggers]

So I've never hatched chicken eggs before.

As I've been reading, some people say you can tell when an egg is fertilized after three days, some say to wait until seven, and even others say that they can for sure tell if an egg is doing something after just 24 hours.

So what abut you guys? When do you personally feel like you can tell for sure that something is going on in the egg?

I think it depends on the egg! I just completed my first incubation, and the lightest eggs were easiest to tell.

This was only 3 days in (you can faintly see a red circle with tiny veining).

Other eggs took a bit longer to see as they were thicker/darker. The ones below were day 6. Darkest of all day 6:

 

[SilverBirds]

It depends on the shell color and the size of the egg. With my dark eggs, I don't see development until around day 10ish. With my green eggs, I could see around day 7. White-cream, about day 3. My serama eggs I can see development at about day 3-5, though it can be hard to see the veins because they are so small. With my duck eggs, I could see veining at dat 1-2. If an egg is obviously dead or not developing, I throw it out. If it is questionable, I'll leave it until day 10-14.