How soon can I candle?

[countyroad1330]

How soon can I candle an egg to see if its fertile? Is it possible to tell right after they've been laid? I'm guessing no, but I thought I'd check.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Honestly if you want them to hatch I would wait til day 7 to candle for the first time...handling eggs in a bator in the first few days can kill a hatch...my opinion and thoughts....by day 7 you will see veins and an eye very clearly if questionable wait til day 14

If your just wanting to test fertility 3 or 4 days and crack them open...

 

[countyroad1330]

But cracked eggs won't hatch. *haha* Ok, I will wait until day 7. Thank you for the info.

How do you candle? Would you recommend buying a 'candler'?

 

[tebs78]

I use a mag flash light, works better than my candler.

 

[countyroad1330]

We tried that, but I was afraid we'd break the egg. The best thing so far was my fiance's LED cop light. But neither of them really showed anything other than just a dark spot. I've never seen veins or eyes, like Tuff mentioned.

Wait, I take that back. The first time we ever candled one, we could see something moving like crazy all around in the egg. It was awesome! Ok, maybe we'll stick to the flashlight's.

I have another incubating question, thought I'd try asking here. My incubator is very old, just has a metal grate that the eggs lay on. When the chicks hatch they roll all over the place, knocking the other eggs everywhere. I try to straighten them out, but I worry about them unhatched eggs. Is there something I can buy/make to lay the eggs in? Or is it better to just let them roll around?

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

Do a week or so of 'fertility tests'.... crack the eggs open each day, and try to find the 'bullseye' that shows they are fertile. Then use those in cooking. After a week of that, you should know about how many of your flock's eggs are fertile. Edit: Oh, that assumes your eggs are from your own flock.

That won't help you separate them before incubation, but when you candle them, on day 10 or 14 of incubation, you'll know about how many should be growing, and how many you'll expect to be completely clear, to throw out.

 

[Henrietta23]

Quote:
I saw a picture on here that someone posted showing zip ties with the as yet unhatched eggs in them. I think that was the idea.

 

[lilshadow]

I got eggs yesterday, and set them on the counter, are they still good to put in my bator. very new at this. I don't even know if they are fertile.