Is candling too much bad?

[muscovy94]

Is it? Because I candle ALOT!! (like almost everyday.....

) Is that bad?

 

[gumamelachick]

I do, too!! I know that people who have incubated before normally only candle 2-3 times during the incubation process, but this is my first time in a homemade incubator, and I want to make sure things are progressing okay. I do a lot of comparisons to the candling pics on Metzers site (I've got duck eggs). I have my hands in there all of the time anyways since I have to hand turn the eggs every couple of hours.

I always wash my hands every single time I touch the eggs . Then when I'm candling the egg, it's out of the incubator for less than a minute, and handled very carefully- no bumping or shaking.

So, make sure your hands are clean (so you don't introduce bacteria to your eggs), handle them gently, and quickly put them back and get the incubator temp and humidity to the correct levels immediately after. This is what I'm doing, but seeing as how I haven't hatched anything YET, you may want to wait for someone with more experience to chime in with better advice.

Good luck with your hatch- it's exciting, isn't it?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I only candle 3 times during the 18 days. Too much handling in MY opinion helps cause eggs not to hatch out or quitters.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
Agree. I actually only candle twice. Day 10 and 18. I've had much better hatches since I adopted the "hands off" approach to incubating.

 

[Land of Lost Toys]

I did not candle at all. Wanted to but that darn broody was pecking my hands so bad that I figured she'll know which ones are viable or not. 6 have hatched in the past 2 days....3 still under her.

 

[kathyinmo]

First off, I never was very good at candleing. Then, I got a nice electric candler, and that was great until I lost it. Nice thing with it is that you never have to touch the egg. Just put the light over the egg.

Anyway, I know it is not good to candle all the time .... from my experiece anyway. I have hatched hundreds of chicks (over 450 last month), and my hatch rates improved a great deal when I quit candleing. I candle once ... that is the day I move the eggs out of the incubator and into the hatcher.

Why risk it? If the eggs are important to you, I think you should take every possible precaution to protect them. Accidents do happen .... drop the egg, drop something else on the egg, bacteria formation, jostle the egg contents, etc ....

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
450??? Seriously?? I think we need to plan an intervention...............





Ok, not really, I'm just jealous. DH would kill me! LOL!!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
450??? Seriously?? I think we need to plan an intervention...............





Ok, not really, I'm just jealous. DH would kill me! LOL!!

Get a Sportsman .... then you just HAVE to incubate!

ETA: I kept only 24 of them for myself!