New to candling

[Featherlyadvice]

Hi! So, this morning starts day 4 of incubation for my 6 Plymouth Rock eggs. Ive looked at tons of pictures of candling and have been reading about it for weeks, so I gave it a go.

I thought I would see more! :/ I see veining on 1 of 6, which is my lightest colored egg. I see air cells now, where I couldnt see them at all when I set them. The yolks on a few seem to have gotten bigger and darker, but I can't make out veins. A few seem to have a darker spot within the yolk, but still no veining.

The eggs are shipped eggs that I let sit for 24 hrs before setting.

Does the yolk getting bigger and darker mean its probably good?
Is it common to not see veining adter day 3 on a light brown egg? I have them set with fat end up and am being very careful not to tip them to much when candling because I dont want to disturb that air cell if its still fixing itself after shipping.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes at three days it is very common to see nothing when you candle. Some of that depends on your candling set-up, how dark the room is, how bright the light you are using, and how you are using that light. A lot depends on how dark the shell is. Some even depends on your experience.

I understand your curiosity and fascination with those eggs, they become pretty special as soon as they go into the incubator, but be patient. Since you can see something in the lightest egg your set-up is probably fairly good. You should be able to see something in another couple of days in all of them unless they are really dark. Just don’t do anything dramatic or drastic with any of the eggs, even the ones you think are not developing, until you get more experience candling.

With my green eggs I have trouble telling much until pretty late in incubation. After 18 days and I go into lockdown I can tell which are totally clear and which have developed but I often can’t tell which stopped developing along the way. I toss the clears and leave the rest in if there is any question at all.

 

[Featherlyadvice]

Thank you so much for your response! I am learning a lot and getting a lot of new experience. Loving it and hoping to get at least 1 little chick from this first hatch. They are very special!