More candling questions... I need the experts!!!

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Oh yeah, been there done that. The first time, as with most things, is the best/worst.

Probably the best advice for the first timer is sedation.

Seriously, it truly is best if you can give them the least bother possible.
Candle when you really must, look for disease with eyes and nose and otherwise pretty much leave them alone.

There is little you can do to affect the outcome anyway, except maintain the right conditions. Even that could be a challenge if you're opening and closing the incubator all the time. I almost knocked mine of the counter top once for fussing with it!

I know it's hard to do, but step away from the incubator; slowly, sloooowly...
 
You're much less likely to screw anything up if you just leave them alone, than if you mess with them. Unless you smell a bad one, wouldn't worry about an egg exploding. An egg that far gone would reek, long before it blew.

That would also remove the possibility of culling eggs in error, that might've hatched otherwise. After your wave of hatches, on day 21, if all goes well, if you wait 2 or 3 days, til tou're pretty sure no more are gonna hatch, that's soon enough to discard bad eggs. And do egg-topsies, if you wish.
 
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Oh, it was an older notion from a century or so ago; back before the time we moderns got so smart.

The notion is based in the brood hen herself. She gets off the nest once a day to eat, stretch and relieve herself. So it was recommended that the artificial hatcherist duplicate that off-nest period by allowing the eggs to cool for 15 minutes or so out of the incubator.
It was most often accomplished by sliding out the egg trays, a common feature for the incubators of the time.

While it has merit on first glance, I've done it myself and haven't noted much difference in outcome. Frankly, it's a bit of a bother with todays equipment.
I suspect it's more because they distrusted the then "newfangled" incubators, and so tried to maintain a more natural set of conditions this way.

Or something like that.
 
LOL... actually it is a relief not to have to candle. I thought it was something that responsible egg hatchers did! But the truth is...

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I don't have a clue what I am looking for.
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My eggs insides don't look anything like the pics that I am trying to compare them too
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I just know that I am going to drop one!!

So thank you for all your GREAT help!
 

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