It will NOT hurt your eggs if you open the bator to do maintenance. Momma hen gets off her clutch of eggs every single day to go for her morning constitutional. Some bators even have a built in cool cycle to mimic this natural occurrence.
What does it smell like? Slightly eggy? Then that's ok. Does it smell like something dead? That's NOT ok!
Have you candled your eggs? Remove the clears and blood rings.
Any eggs that you see signs of life in, mark them with some sort of marking that tells you they are ok.
Any ones that you are not sure of, either b/c you don't know what you are seeing, or b/c they are too dark to see into, mark them with a ?. Those eggs should get the sniff test. Hold the egg up to your nose, and give it a good sniff. If you don't smell a "road kill" smell, then it goes back in the bator. If you smell "road kill", then it needs to be removed. If you remove one of these eggs, you should take it outside and open it up to be sure that your nose matches what you think you know about it. Any ? mark eggs should get special attention and the sniff test frequently until lock down.
Candling: Make sure to use a strong flash light with new batteries. If that doesn't work, then you can take a table lamp, (I use a 7W LED) and do a MacGuyver candler with a cardboard tube or a shampoo bottle and some tinfoil. In a super dark room, my lamp candler will allow me to see enough into most eggs so that I can make a reasonable determination regarding life vs. death.
What does it smell like? Slightly eggy? Then that's ok. Does it smell like something dead? That's NOT ok!
Have you candled your eggs? Remove the clears and blood rings.
Any eggs that you see signs of life in, mark them with some sort of marking that tells you they are ok.
Any ones that you are not sure of, either b/c you don't know what you are seeing, or b/c they are too dark to see into, mark them with a ?. Those eggs should get the sniff test. Hold the egg up to your nose, and give it a good sniff. If you don't smell a "road kill" smell, then it goes back in the bator. If you smell "road kill", then it needs to be removed. If you remove one of these eggs, you should take it outside and open it up to be sure that your nose matches what you think you know about it. Any ? mark eggs should get special attention and the sniff test frequently until lock down.
Candling: Make sure to use a strong flash light with new batteries. If that doesn't work, then you can take a table lamp, (I use a 7W LED) and do a MacGuyver candler with a cardboard tube or a shampoo bottle and some tinfoil. In a super dark room, my lamp candler will allow me to see enough into most eggs so that I can make a reasonable determination regarding life vs. death.
