humidity and candling Q's

[SilverDuck284]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation
this one is helpful. I'm still looking for the diagram.

 

[SilverDuck284]

Here it is. https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/5061384/album/6067809

 

[ejctm]

thanks silverduck. I see, the air cell gets bigger.

I also think I mistook a baby for a yolk when I candled before so am hoping more are viable than I had thought.

Waiting for the dark so I can candle again! It is 6pm here, so another 4 hours to go....

 

[SilverDuck284]

Lol! I go in the bathroom to candle! No windows, its pitch black in there! I just candled my babies! Day 7!

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to help!

 

[Time-Out]

60% is way too high. I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. 40% would have been perfect for the first 18 days, then you can let it run as high as you want (90% being fine). As long as they lose the correct amount of moisture in the first 18 days, the humidity for the last three doesn't matter.

Did you weigh the eggs before incubating them? That's a good way to find out if your humidity is too high or too low.

 

[ejctm]

I candled this evening and have removed 5 of the 9 eggs.

2 were porous, 1 of which had started oozing egg white through the shell. None of the eggs I removed had an air sac. Some were entirely clear, and 1 had a dark area but no air sac and the dark bit swished around the egg when I turned it.

Out of the 4 left, 2 are definite chicks (I saw movement in 1!) and 2 are maybe's which I will give a bit longer. All these eggs looked more like day 11 or 12 candling pics rather than day 14 which is what they are. I wonder why?

Has the humidity issue affected these results or were the eggs just not fertile?

 

[ejctm]

I just cracked open the discarded eggs. Had to steel myself in case I found an underdeveloped chick in any of them - my worst nightmare!

Thankfully, all were just clear, probably infertile or damaged by the postal system (or by my too high humidity?).

 

[SilverDuck284]

The humidity wouldn't harm the developing embryo. They need to lose moisture so they have air to breath during the hatch, before they break the shell.

 

[Time-Out]

Maybe a daft question, but were you candling from the correct end? The large end? Eggs have air sacs even before incubation. Strange that yours wouldn't.

As SilverDuck said, the humidity would only cause problems once the chick tried to hatch. What temperature is your incubator set at? Seeing as you had humidity so high to start with, can you drop it to 20% or something for the next few days?

 

[ejctm]

I candled from the bottom and then all around at both ends, turned them round every which way to see what was inside! It was obvious compared to the good eggs, that the others were different.

There were no air sacs and I guess the membrane had broken down inside the egg as it was starting to go bad. When I cracked them, it had started to go mushy inside. I wish I had candled prior to incubating as I would have seen the 2 really porous eggs, but I know for next time.

Anyway, candled again tonight (day 15) and there is definitely black blobs in all remaining 4. the Buff Orp was moving (so sweet, like feeling your baby kicking inside!!) and the 2 Jersey Giants I am not sure and the last remaining bantam Wyandotte looked like it twitched. So here is hoping we have 4 babies on the way!

I have some fertile eggs left from this order that would not fit in the incubator and may just incubate them to see what happens after this lot hatch next week. The eggs will be old and it is a long shot but I have nothing to lose. Unless I order some more (was thinking about Faverolles and Babu D'Anvers.....OMG chicken math - someone stop me now!)