Questions about my candled eggs

[livin-green]

Okay, guys....I've looked at all the photos, diagrams, etc., of what to look for in a candled egg.....aargh! Other than candling the eggs right before incubating, I've never candled, so I'm still not positive what I'm seeing. This evening is wrapping up the 8th day of incubation. A few looked like what I think they should--according to the pics I've looked at--but I also have of few I'm not sure about. Any input??

Out of 16 Ameraucana eggs (they are not a really dark blue, but still hard to candle) I have:

7 looked good with a dark area and veining

4 obviously just yolks--all clear except for a yellowish area at the top

2 had a dark area and veining, but looked reddish in the clearer areas--could these be quitters already? Or could the reddish color be caused by a thinner egg-shell or something? It was not a "ring".

3 pretty much just a dark mass in the center of the egg--couldn't tell if there were veins or not. Could see a small air sac at top (didn't seem as big as the others) and clear area toward bottom.

None were oozy or smelling. Couldn't get any pictures--eggs too dark to photograph.
What do you guys think--especially the last two listed?

Thanks!!!

edited title to be more descriptive

 

[Akane]

Some eggs will show redder than others in the clear areas. Also on my quail eggs which are very hard to candle sometimes the only thing I could see is that they'd get redder. I'm guessing from the blood vessels developing.

The dark ones it's hard to say. It may just be a thicker shell. It may be the position the chick was in that made everything look dark instead of the clear areas. Or they could be bad and are filled with bacteria. You kind of have to see it to know the difference. A bad egg will be kind of cloudy swirly looking instead of solid dark or with various shapes in it. If in doubt always put an egg back and try candling in a few days to see what's changed before making a decision. You can mark questionable eggs with an actual question mark to remind you which ones.

 

[livin-green]

Thanks! I'm keeping my fingers crossed on those 5 "odd" ones. I did have a problem at first with the motor from my auto. turner getting pretty hot. The eggs on that side were reading higher temp, so after about 2 days, we moved all the eggs over to the center & far side. The temps were then more even for all the eggs. I'm hoping what you said about they could have developed a little faster is correct!

I did mark each questionable egg with a black crayon. I wasn't planning to candle again until day 18 when I move them off the turner. Do you think that will be okay or should I candle the questionable ones before then? I don't want any "exploding" in my bator. That brings up another question--do they actually explode all over or just pop open and leak all over??

 

[william9792]

i always wait and candle dark eggs on days 10 and 18. next time use a pincel to mark eggs, a crayon is bad for the egg. it cuts some of the air flow to the chick in the egg. and yes they blow up all over the inside of the bator. what kind of bator do you have? whats the humidty at? william

 

[livin-green]

Quote:
"all over the inside...." Eeeew!

We have a slightly modified LG still air with auto. turner. We had a problem with the auto. turner over heating, so I placed an air tube in the air hole right above the motor and connected it to an aquarium air pump. It seems to have helped level out the temps. in the whole bator.

I'm using the dry incubation method. I have all the plugs out and am keeping the humidity in the room at about 55%. The humidity in the bator usually stays between 30-35%. Of course, right now it is about 43%--I expect it will drop back down as the temp continues to rise after opening the bator for candling.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

I wouldn't worry too much about one exploding. Just stick your nose in and sniff every now and then. You will be able to smell it long before it is ready to explode!

 

[william9792]

sound like you will have chicks soon, but time goes real slow as it gets closer to hatch time. but you can smell bad eggs before they hatch. william good luck

 

[livin-green]

I was hoping that it would be pretty obvious that it was rotten before it actually explodes--thanks for the heads-up, luvmychicknkids!

And, william9792, the time has already been slow!!

LOL!
I'm sitting here thinking, "It's only been a week. I still have 2 more weeks to wait!!" I can't imagine how nerve-wrecking it will be the last couple of days!

Thanks for the input & encouragement, everyone!

 

[SarahF]

how long can the eggs be out of the bator while candling? or should I take one out at a time??? I'm also on day 8 and need to candle tonight...