I Candled day 6 and again 9 ...... good news!!!!

[Clay In Iowa]

After a week or two of sitting around wondering how smart it was to order eggs in January I ordered 12 Black Copper Marans eggs From mothergoose 1963 (Amy). She sent 16 BCMs plus 5 pure bred black Ameraucana eggs, beautiful blue eggs. Everything arrived in great shape, no dents, no dings. WOO HOO Bonus!!

I candled on day 6 and was surprised (pleasantly) to see 11 of 16 of my Black copper Marans were developing. One had a blood ring and 4 showed no signs of developing at all. 4 of the 5 Amaraucana eggs were doing great one had a blood ring. Amy told me she was getting around 80% hatches on the BCM eggs. 11 of 16 is around 68% very respectable for a mid-winter shipment through subfreezing conditions. I left the 5 BCM dudes in the bator just in case. It's a tough call to see ANYTHING in these dark eggs. Heck I wasn't too sure 10 of the 11 'developing' eggs were really developing. I saw movement in only one.

So on day 9 I decided to candle again. One of the Dudes was developing!! It was a particularly dark egg so seeing veining was just impossible. Movement of a larger embryo was much easier to see. I actually got the other 11 'good' eggs right. So now were up to 12 of 16 BCM eggs (75%) which is what Amy sees from fresh eggs.

Now I sit and wait.... .something I'm not very good at..... uuughhhh.

 

[ginbart]

Sending good vibes your way.

Good luck

 

[EmptyNest]

What did you end up using to candle with?

 

[pasofinofarm]

Congrats Clay!

I have had great luck candling the Marans eggs since I sprung for a high lume candler... I love it. I can see my little guys moving and I had a late hatcher that when I went to check on him he was pipping into the air cell... how cool that was to watch.

Happy Hatching!
Melissa

 

[Clay In Iowa]

I found a 3 watt LED mini mag lite was adequate. If only barely.

Yea it's pretty cool watching them move. My 4 year old thought it was really cool. He's VERY excited about "his" chickens.

 

[americana-chick]

im sorry for jumping on your thread like this but, i cant see through the darker eggs and maybe its just because its only day 3 for the eggs but.....

i use just a plain ol flashlight which doesnt work very good... wat do most people use for candling?

 

[Clay In Iowa]

No problem I can tell you I tried several flashlight and settled on the mini mag light with a 3 watt LED. I too k the lens out and it worked..... OK.. Those dark eggs are REALLY tough.