Question about dud eggs and the eggs I could candle

[RollinWithTheStones]

I have a lot of very dark eggs and I can't candle them. If they are duds can they stay in the incubator the whole time? How many days past 21 do you keep them in the incubator just to make sure they hatch?

Also I could candle these eggs are they okay? the very bottom example is a light brown egg and I can't tell.

This egg is 5 days old is it going good? Bantam egg


This egg is 8 days old (serama)



this egg is also 8 days old (white egg average sized) I swore I saw veins 3 days ago


8 day old brown egg average size

 

[Country Chickens]

My personal take (especially when candling dark eggs) is if I don't see a bacterial ring it stays in until day 14. At that point it's obvious which have chicks in them and which are duds. If they appear to have a chick (large dark body filling more than half of egg) they stay in the bator. If they don't, they go. Maybe that will help, or someone else can chime in!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Especally your first hatch or time candling, don't be too quick to throw them out. I'm getting better at it, even with dark eggs, but I don't throw any out until day 14 either. I make too many mistakes earlier. And be careful about whether it is actually a bacterial (blood) ring or just normal veining. Those can be confusing until you've seen a few.

Don't worry a whole lot about exploding eggs and all that. Don't get me wrong. If that happens it is horrible. But an egg is not going to explode unless it has bacteria growing in it. It does not matter if it is fertile or developing or not. An egg with bacteria inside is a problem. An egg without bacteria developing will never explode.

I recommend you do the sniff test. Sniff the eggs. If one smells rotten, gently get rid of it. If it does not smell, it wil not explode in the next couple of days. If you see what you think is a bacterial ring, sniff it daily.

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

What's a bacteria ring look like? My problem is I have a lot of eggs (marans) that I can't candle at all.

 

[Country Chickens]

Have you seen pictures of the bullseye rash around a tick bite? A bacterial blood ring looks like that, and it's just as welcome!

Seriously, I would just google it. There's an example here http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html, but I'm pretty sure I've seen others that are better. As for the Marans? I have no idea what you'd do beyond the sniff test! I'm getting Marans chicks to start a flock, though (squee!), so I'll be watching with interest to see what others say.

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

Thanks, I'm totally nervous about this hatch. it's my first and i've got a bad feeling about it

 

[Country Chickens]

Hang in there. Sometimes the first can be pretty rough (mine was) but hey, if that's the case it's going to be all uphill from there, right? And, honestly, I think usually we fret more than is needed. I really worried over this last hatch because I'd left the eggs out in the barn through most of January's freezing nights (okay, only in the low 40s, but still!) and let the eggs pile up longer than usual cause I wanted the hen to raise them. She refused, and I worried my way through the incubation weeks that the eggs would never hatch. Well, we got a 75% hatch! Not bad, considering the conditions. Just give it some time, and try to enjoy any triumphs that come your way!