How soon is too soon?

[14 chickens & counting]

How soon can you start candling eggs?

I'm on day 2! and it's KILLING me!

Also, when you DO candle.....how long can the egg stay out of the incubator before the temp/humidity drop may damage the chick?

 

[jgravilusmc]

14 chickens & counting :

How soon can you start candling eggs?

I'm on day 2! and it's KILLING me!

Also, when you DO candle.....how long can the egg stay out of the incubator before the temp/humidity drop may damage the chick?

i'm new but i've read 7 14 and 18 but there is one post in here that shows several more times than that. i've heard 20 minutes at most on keeping them out​

 

[Barred Rocker]

I can sometimes see vein development on day 5 but I really can't tell for sure until day 10. You can candle as often as you like it wont hurt the eggs. Remember a setting hen will leave the nest a couple times a day for 5 to 15 minutes and they seem to do just fine.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Honestly, if they are white eggs, I candle at the very end of day 2 if I just can't wait, or day 3 because you may see something then. I try to only keep them out a few minutes or so to be safe but it won't hurt them if they cool slightly for just a few minutes...the hen has to get off them once in a while, lol!

 

[heathersboers]

White eggs are very easy- the dark ones- Like my marans- I try to candle, but end up doing a float test 4 days before hatching. I usually candle on day 7 or 10.

 

[Jessiewoodard57]

I candle at day 10 and then just before I go into lock down

 

[Rebel Rooster]

Quote:
Same here...

 

[speckledhen]

It's best not to touch them for the first ten days because the embryo is very delicate, however, I'd say for a newbie to candling, it would be best not to candle till at least day 7-8 at the earliest. That way there is something to see that you probably won't mistake. Even if you don't think it's developing, don't toss any eggs till at least Day 10-12 unless they are seeping or smell bad.

 

[14 chickens & counting]

Quote:
thanks for the info..............unfortunately I couldn't help myself....

 

[IdealisticRoo]

14 chickens & counting :

Quote:
thanks for the info..............unfortunately I couldn't help myself....

I agree! With both of you! I know it is bad to mess with eggs, incubators, etc; but I just CAN'T leave it alone! It is so fascinating to me how they develop!

However for those who HAVE to candle, I recently discovered that you can candle without picking up the egg! This way I can see if the egg is developing without moving it and disturbing it!

I have been candling the first time on day 4, I can't see anything before then. I only candle on that day so I can pull the clears so I can put more eggs in because I love to torture myself with staggered hatches! If I didn't have eggs arriving in the mail on a weekly basis and a supply of E.E. eggs in my backyard, I don't think I would pull any eggs unless they were oozing or smelling!

I do not pretend to know much about incubating, I have cooked, er incubated over 200 eggs, out of those, I am up to 4 hatchlings, 1 of which did not make it, and 1 of which is struggling because its head is glued to its abdomen. I just had to open the bator to turn the egg, because I was convinced the chick was drowning! It was blowing bubbles in the fluid! I just turned it a little so it wouldn't drown. Kinda like rolling a passed-out drunk over on his side so he doesn't choke and drown.

I think way more chickies would hatch around here at least if the incubator had a time lock on it, so the thing wouldn't open until day 24! I don't know what it is about chicks hatching that makes everyone want to "help"! Somehow they manage to hatch with a crabby hen sitting on them, why can't they manage without my help in a perfectly heated and humidified incubator without me helping!

Sorry, I am venting at myself because I am worried about the glued chick and if my fingers are busy typing, they can't be opening the incubator, pouring heated saline on the chick so it comes unstuck!

Sorry to hijack your thread, I love candling!