How early and how often do you candle your eggs?

[KelliR]

All candled tonight.....day 6.

 

[ChaseAndDreamer]

What day of incubation are you on? I'm assuming that you mean that when you candle the egg you can't see any light...correct? If so, and if you are nearing Day 20, you might be ok. Sometimes you can see movement in the egg to know if a chick is alive, but not always. Good luck on your hatch!

yes that what I meant and they all died

But I will try again after I fix the incubator
(We had to take them cause of a snake)

 

[jboisvert]

Sorry to hear that. It happens though, trial and error! You will have a hatch soon I'm sure!

 

[ChaseAndDreamer]

Thanks

 

[twinsmom6]

Please forgive the newbie question.. New Chicken owner (too young to lay eggs yet) - I am not sure if I have a roo or two.. but my question is if you have a roo in there.. do you have to candle all eggs before eating them (sorry for the eating word)- I am hoping if I have a roo I can keep him.. if he is nice.. so if you do daily egg gathering do you need to candle them all ? (again newbie question)- any advice?

 

[BradnerGirl]

Kelli, I see your post from 3 weeks ago, how did your hatch go?

 

[jboisvert]

Please forgive the newbie question.. New Chicken owner (too young to lay eggs yet) - I am not sure if I have a roo or two.. but my question is if you have a roo in there.. do you have to candle all eggs before eating them (sorry for the eating word)-  I am hoping if I have a roo I can keep him.. if he is nice..  so if you do daily egg gathering do you need to candle them all ?  (again newbie question)- any advice?

If you are collecting eggs every day and you have a rooster or two in your flock, no you do not have to candle the eggs. Now, if you are collecting your eggs every few days and you live in a very warm climate or have a hen thats a persistant setter, then you should probably candle the eggs. You dont want any surprises!

 

[BradnerGirl]

Please forgive the newbie question.. New Chicken owner (too young to lay eggs yet) - I am not sure if I have a roo or two.. but my question is if you have a roo in there.. do you have to candle all eggs before eating them (sorry for the eating word)- I am hoping if I have a roo I can keep him.. if he is nice.. so if you do daily egg gathering do you need to candle them all ? (again newbie question)- any advice?

I've been keeping chickens for about ten years and always keep a rooster. When you crack your egg if you see a white dot about 1/4" that means it's fertilized. We eat all of our eggs and most I check I can see are fertilized. It doesn't hurt you or have any taste. I collect our eggs daily and never candle them. If you were to leave them in the nest for a few days in the summer I probably wouldn't eat them.

I don't allow my hens to roost in their nests so that they remain clean for egg laying only, because of this I don't wash my eggs which keeps them fresher longer. Europeans don't wash their eggs and store them on their counters. I store mine in the fridge.

 

[twinsmom6]

thanks so much very helpful

 

[lgphoto1]

One egg's air cell seems quite a bit larger than the others. Not sure if the smaller ones are the correct size or if the larger one is. Can someone tell me how big the air cell should be at 14 days? Is it about the size of a quarter? What if anything, should I do about the larger one?