I will admit after reading about all the things that can go wrong while hatching out I got a lilittle nervous about trying it. But now that I see those awesome candleing pictures I am all excited again. I have read that it is not necessary and possibly not good to be candling the eggs everyday. Is this true?
It's not neccessary, no. Like many things in incubating people have their own opinions as to wether or not you "should". I am a addicted candler. No matter how hard I try not to, I end up candleing, even if it's just 4 or 5 of the eggs...lol. I was told that as long as you are washing your hands before handling and are not keeping them out of the bator more than half an hour, you should not compromise your hatch even if you candle every day. The first week I only candle two or three times to check air cells, cause there's not really much to see. Once they start veining though, I can't help myself. I would say, I candled almost every night with my last hatch. I didn't candle every egg every night, but I needed a small fix...lol Plus I use the excuse: I do the dry incubation and need to keep an eye on my air cells.
Out of the 16 that went into lockdown 13 hatched
I only lost two eggs to blood ring prior to lockdown and 1 refridgerated egg (experimental) that quit around day 5 or so.
Some people don't candle after setting them. Some do the recommended 10 days/14 days/18 days at lockdown. Some people feel you set the eggs and leave them alone until they all hatch. I'm a meddler. I'm impatient. I have to have a peek at what is going on!!!! I won't interfere with a hatcher unless I feel it's really neccessary, but I don't believe in not trying to help if I feel it's neccessary because nature should win out.
The facts are that every time you take an egg out of the bator you risk bacteria compromising the egg, the possibility of dropping the egg or dropping something on the egg. There is also a chance of handling to rough if a person is not gentle enough. Just like every time you get in a car you risk causing an accident or being in one, or getting the flu from someone in the store. There are more possibilities of something happening when you are "interacting" with the eggs, but that doesn't mean it will. You will find your comfort zone and what "risks" you are willing to take or not as you go along and you will find what is right for YOU and YOUR chicks.
