My first time incubating chicks and my new time on this website.

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TinkyPinky

TinkyPinky

In the Brooder
Oct 23, 2015
89
4
29
Australia Perth
Will someone PLEASE PLEASE help me! I have fertile eggs but I have no idea if they are dead, I torched them but the eggs went dark from the middle to the other side, will they explode?? are they dead? Or are they just big chicks? When I got them I have no idea how old they are, but I'm guessing 10 to 14 days. The blood vanes are quite pail pink, I don't THINK I can see any movement, I REALLY REALLY don't want them to explode!! I haven't tried the egg float test because the Web told me they will explode if they touch cold water, and I think hot water will kill them, and I also don't really know how to do it. I'd LOVE it if someone telled me what Ineed to do.
 
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Eggs darken as the embryo grows. Most likely what you are seeing is the normal progression of a growing embryo. Eggs generally start stinking or oozing prior to exploding.
 
First get some fruit, chop it up, add to a bowl of vanilla ice cream, and enjoy. Chill! Relax! You are OK. Easy for me to say, isn’t it?

There are some articles in the Learning Center above that talks about hatching eggs and candling. You might want to spend some time reading. There are pictures of candled eggs at different stages of development.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks

People can really scare you on here when they talk about exploding eggs. They make you think that is an everyday occurrence. It’s not. When one goes bad it is awful. They really stink. Most of the time they ooze instead of explode but exploding is possible. But one going bad doesn’t happen that often.

The best way to test for a bad egg is not candling. Instead, sniff it. If you have ever smelled a rotten egg that’s what you are looking for. It smells really horrible. In all the years I’ve been incubating I’ve only had one go bad. It oozed, did not explode. More than five decades back I had one explode under a broody hen during hatch. What a mess. I think it was the chicks moving around that caused it to go off.

What causes an egg to go bad is that bacteria get inside and start multiplying. The egg is the perfect food for the bacteria and incubation temperature is the perfect temperature for fast growth. Many cultures in the laboratory use egg for the bacteria to feed on. It’s the perfect food for many.

The last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is to put a coating on it that we call bloom. That’s what makes a fresh egg just laid look wet because it is, but it quickly dries. That coating helps stop bacteria form getting inside. It’s not perfect but it is really effective. A chicken can lay an egg a day for two weeks in a hidden nest, incubate them for three weeks, and hatch out a lot of chicks without an egg going bad. Turkeys and ducks go longer. One can go bad but it is really rare.

The best way to keep bacteria out is to not mess with the bloom and don’t set dirty eggs. Keep your hands clean when handling the eggs. If you wash the eggs or scratch them you are removing bloom. If there is a crust of poop or dirt on them, then that can help bacteria get inside. I’m not talking about a thin smear, I’m talking about a clump. Sterilize the incubator before you use it and wash your hands before you handle the eggs. Don’t get them oily or greasy.

I’m not exactly sure what day you are on. An egg does not start serious development until it goes in the incubator. When it is laid isn’t when development starts. It is important that the eggs all go in the incubator at the same time so they will hatch together. I’m kind of reading between the lines of your post on this and am not sure how well you understand this.

If you look through those candling pictures you can get an idea of what you might see at different stages of development. Your candling technique and the color of the egg shell may limit you to what you actually see. A dark brown egg or a green or blue egg is harder to see inside than a nice white egg. With some of my darker green eggs it’s all I can do to see the air cell. Forget about seeing veining or anything like that. It’s nice when you see movement but even in the lighter eggs I often don’t.

A broody hen never candles her eggs. I never candle eggs under a broody. You don’t have to candle them for them to hatch. I do candle eggs in the incubator, more because it is fun than for any real need. At lockdown I generally remove the clears, but I never remove an egg before lockdown because of candling.

If you can see inside them really well you can see veining and such, but after a while all you can see is a black mass like Sourland said. What you are describing sound pretty normal to me.

I consider the float test a last-minute desperate thing to do just before I toss the eggs. I do not considerate something I would want to do in the normal course of a hatch. The more I mess with them the more damage I am likely to do. Patience is usually your friend.

Good luck on the hatch.
 
Thankyou so much Ridgerunner, Sourland, trailrider, BantamFan4life, and NorthFLchick! I really love your help! Thankyou. Just 1 quick question: how do you make moving pictures? The Emoji moving happy pictures.
 
Last edited:
TinkyPinky said:
Thankyou so much Ridgerunner, Sourland, trailrider, BantamFan4life, and NorthFLchick! I really love your help! Thankyou. Just 1 quick question: how do you make moving pictures? The Emoji moving happy pictures.
Click to expand...

In the box where you type your post, you should see several optional things you can do right above the box you type your post in...things like change the type size or make the type bold. You should also see a little smiley face, click on that and a window will open with several emojis. Point and click on the one you want to use and it will be inserted into your post.

Hope that helps.
 

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