How long after first hatch should I candle to check the other eggs?

[Markes87]

Hi, one of my hen went broody (she is 8ish months old. It's her first tike being broody) about a month ago. Let her have 5 eggs.

One egg hatched 2 days ago (she rejected the baby chick, so now I'm using a brooder on that one). But the others haven't hatched yet. How long should I let her continue incubating the eggs before candling them?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Candle them tonight, see if any are close. Have you tried to put the chick under her at night?

 

[Markes87]

Candle them tonight, see if any are close. Have you tried to put the chick under her

Sorry for late reply, had internet trouble. Candled 2 of the eggs, and they are fuller than at 14 days, which is when I last candled them.
I could only see the air sack

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Do you see any veins?

 

[Markes87]

Hi! Do you see any veins?

No, I couldn't see any veins

 

[Ridgerunner]

What date did you set the eggs? November 29th? December 3rd? Were they all started at the same time? How many days has it been?

Late in incubation I'm not looking for veins at all. Sometimes I can see movement but not always, especially in the dark-shelled or green eggs. A solid blob and an air cell is good enough for me. I don't know how you are trying to candle them. Your equipment and technique makes a difference on how well you can see.

 

[Markes87]

What date did you set the eggs? November 29th? December 3rd? Were they all started at the same time? How many days has it been?

Late in incubation I'm not looking for veins at all. Sometimes I can see movement but not always, especially in the dark-shelled or green eggs. A solid blob and an air cell is good enough for me. I don't know how you are trying to candle them. Your equipment and technique makes a difference on how well you can see.

Hen laid her eggs between 1st-2nd of December, and has beend sitting on them since. I do see a solid blod and what I assume is the air cell/sack? I'm using a led flashlight I have for emergencies

 

[Ridgerunner]

I candle the same way, I just make sure the batteries are new and the room where I do it is really dark.

It does not matter when the eggs were laid, it's when incubation starts that matters. It sounds like you may have collected five eggs and started them on December 2nd but I'm not sure. If they were all started by the 2nd I'd candle tomorrow. That puts them 3 days late. They are running out of time. If they were not all started on the 2nd there is nothing wrong with being patient.