If I'm fairly certain that I have a few eggs that are not viable, I should definitely dispose of the

[Rainbows Chicks]

I have eight eggs in an incubator that were set on the afternoon of April 19th. I candled them for the first time, the day before yesterday (so day 14), but I'm a bit uncertain about what I should be seeing. There are about five, however, that I'm fairly certain are definitely not viable...one is clear; only a bit more pinkish than an egg I candled from the fridge; a couple of others have a darkish mass in there, but there definitely doesn't appear to be any veining and when I roll the egg, the mass seems to dissipate then re-form when the egg is still for a moment and the last of them has what looks to be the form of a partly developed chick, based on the images I've seen of other people's candling and of poor little, unfortunate half-developed peeps (such as the one in a thread a little bit ago - I can't remember the member's name, but she had only 2 eggs and one got crushed in the nest...) but without any visible blood vessels. One of them also seems to have a large circle on one side of it that looks like an air cell - only a bit larger. So, my obvious question is this: Can anyone, first of all confirm that I am, unfortunately, correct in guessing that these five or so eggs are not viable and, second, if that is the case, should I definitely dispose of them to avoid the possibility of them exploding in the incubator? I'm certain that it will be easier to explain to a group of children that I had to dispose of a few eggs because there were not any chicks growing in them, than to explain the smelly mess of exploded eggs in our incubator...?
p.s. Also, am I correct in counting April 19th as day one of the 21 incubation days; meaning I might expect a hatch on May 9th and should, therefore, stop turning my eggs on Sunday, May 6th?

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

If there isn't visible veins on day 14 then toss the eggs. If there is just one big vein looking thing going around it then toss it. I had an egg explode, it's nasty and not fun to clean.
If today is day 14 of incubation then you only turn then eggs for 3 or 4 more days. Day 18 quit turning them (some count day 18 as last day of turning them, some simply don't turn them at all day 18)

 

[Rainbows Chicks]

Thank you for the reply. When I go to turn them, in the morning, I guess I'll have to "bite the bullet" and toss them.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

Thank you for the reply. When I go to turn them, in the morning, I guess I'll have to "bite the bullet" and toss them.

If the kids can handle it, you can turn it into a learning experience and crack the eggs open. See how far the one with the bacteria ring in it got before dieing. I use to do that with my niece. She was sad that they didn't hatch but learned what they look like at different stages of incubation.

 

[nurse_turtle]

The day the eggs are set is Day #0. So, for you April 19th is day zero. Simply count down 3 weeks on the calender and you'll land on your due date. Then count back 3 days and that is the day you stop turning the eggs, increase humidity, and lockdown the eggs. I always candle right before lockdown for a final check and toss any non-viables. You should toss the ones you describe. Trust your gut.

 

[Rainbows Chicks]

They're just pre-schoolers (3-5) so I'm not certain about showing them the results (mostly because they're not my children, so I'll have to evaluate their parents' "openess" to having them witness the "evidence" of the eggs' non-viability...). I did, however, crack them open this morning - for my own sake - to see what I could learn about what may have gone wrong. I did take photographs, also, if anyone is interested. I found it fairly sad and depressing, but hope that I'll learn something to increase the chances of a better hatch, next time around. Two of the eggs contained only yolk and, probably, some albumin, while the other three contained visible evidence of a developing embryo from, what looks to me to be, approximately 2-3 days to about 6-7 days and 9-10 days, but even the one that looked 9-10 days old had no visible veining during candling, nor in the opened shell. My eggs are on day 16, so I'm hoping and praying that the egg that looked about 9-10 days developed was, in fact, not viable... I was horrified when I first opened it; thinking that I might have destroyed an egg that might actually have been viable. Can anyone reassure me?

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

They're just pre-schoolers (3-5) so I'm not certain about showing them the results (mostly because they're not my children, so I'll have to evaluate their parents' "openess" to having them witness the "evidence" of the eggs' non-viability...). I did, however, crack them open this morning - for my own sake - to see what I could learn about what may have gone wrong. I did take photographs, also, if anyone is interested. I found it fairly sad and depressing, but hope that I'll learn something to increase the chances of a better hatch, next time around. Two of the eggs contained only yolk and, probably, some albumin, while the other three contained visible evidence of a developing embryo from, what looks to me to be, approximately 2-3 days to about 6-7 days and 9-10 days, but even the one that looked 9-10 days old had no visible veining during candling, nor in the opened shell. My eggs are on day 16, so I'm hoping and praying that the egg that looked about 9-10 days developed was, in fact, not viable... I was horrified when I first opened it; thinking that I might have destroyed an egg that might actually have been viable. Can anyone reassure me?

if there was no veins then it wasn't going to hatch. They can stop at any point in the incubation. If it had been under the hen she'd have kicked that out of the nest or even ate that egg.
I've done that in the past nearly cried cause there was a chick in it. Then took me a while to realize that the chick had already died inside the egg before i opened it.
I hope all of the eggs you have left hatch. You are on day 16? We'll be having eggs hatching around the same time!

 

[Rainbows Chicks]

I sure hope so!!!

I do have another questios, though. I'm using a store bought incubator


and I'm wondering what, if anything, I should put down over the gridded bottom before I lock down to avoid their little feet getting stuck in there once they hatch?

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

I sure hope so!!!

I do have another questios, though. I'm using a store bought incubator


and I'm wondering what, if anything, I should put down over the gridded bottom before I lock down to avoid their little feet getting stuck in there once they hatch?

You don't need anything. I've never had any get stuck in wires like that. if you want you you can put screen, or even put them in cardboard to avoid the mess. I've heard of people using coffee filters or cupcake cups under the eggs as well.