Shell too thick to candle

[Rusty Chick]

So I've been incubating some Shaver Eggs, and I can't see through the shell, all I see are dark patches of shell colour. How can I tell if they have life???

 

[Rusty Chick]

And yes, I am using an egg candler.

 

[PouleChick]

Honestly I'm new to all this but now on my 4th hatch of the year. I had no hope at all of seeing through any of my Marans eggs nor the blue ones no matter how hard I tried. I just had to let nature take it's course and did the sniff test to try to find any rotton ones!

 

[oregonkat]

You can try using a brighter flashlight. 1000 lumens and up if you can find one. They sell them online but I am not sure what the situation is in NZ, (home of my heart! ). Anyway, short of that you just have to exercise patience and like PouleChick said, check for any odors. How far along are you in the incubation?

 

[Rusty Chick]

In about 10 days, just lost a few eggs so trying to see if I can hatch more.

 

[oregonkat]

In about 10 days, just lost a few eggs so trying to see if I can hatch more.

When you say 'lost a few' do you mean that they were developing and died or that they did not develop at all? The reason I ask is because in your original thread, you said all you could see were dark patches of the shell when you candled. It is possible that there actually was nothing to see if the eggs were not fertilized to begin with.