Stopid question # 8

[Blooie]

So I ain't the brightest crayon in the box....but I was wondering if there is a home candling setup almost as powerful as the commercial ones. I'd like to be able to tell if there are meat spots in the eggs before I package them up. I hate opening eggs and seeing them, and some of my customers haven't been real crazy about them either. I know, I know - they're harmless. But doggone it, they sure are unappetizing!

 

[Folly's place]

I use a cheap small LED? flashlight in a dark room. Can't see into those chocolate Marans eggs, though. Mary

 

[aart]

Funny you should bring this up, last week I found a meat spot when I was candling eggs to set in the incubator, was kinda surprised how easy it was to see, using an LED flashlight and am able to use my hand to seal the light to the egg. It was a light brown egg.

A completely dark room is essential IMO, as is sealing the light to the egg surface,
any ambient light greatly reduces the ability see into the egg.
I use a lavatory with no windows near my incubator and it works great any time of day.

Some brown eggs are hard to see into, the darker they are the harder to see.
Blue/green eggs are difficult if not impossible to see into.

I think if you are wanting to candle eating eggs for meat spots before selling I would invest in a real candler because the seal and the light would be much more efficient.
But try it out and play with different flashlights and see what you can see.. haha.

ETA: I also rigged a utility lamp with cardboard cutout fit into the shade when first incubating, it worked ok but was ergonomically awkward. Do some searches here and the net in general on candling, there's lots of things folks have DIY'd that seem to work for them.

 

[Blooie]

Thanks to both of you. @aart Naturally most of the eggs we get are blue and dark brown, notoriously hard to see through. Gee does this mean I should get some more chicks that will grow up and give me white eggs to sell? Teehee - any excuse for new chicks, right?

I have tried candling in the bathroom (no windows in there) with a really strong LED flashlight, but either I don't know what I'm looking for or these old eyes just can't pick up the nuances of something like a meat spot. So maybe a commercial candler is the way to go.

 

[kristaschics15]

I have an even stoopider question. What are meat spots?

 

[aart]

I don't know...the one I saw as suspended in the white, not on the yolk like many are that I see when using to eat.
Blood or meat spots on the yolks might be much harder to see by candling.
When I broke that egg to eat (wasn't sure I could incubate it) it also had some 'dirt' floating in the white, hadn't ever seen that before so I didn't eat it.

They don't really bother me, I usually eat scrambled eggs and I just beat them in.
My customers don't seem to be bothered, I've explained what they are, or at least they don't complain for fear of feeling silly.

krista..... a meat or blood spot is created when the ovum(yolk) is released from the ovary and sometimes a small blood vessel breaks and get encapsulated with the egg.
I think it's mentioned in this video, which is fascinating Egg Formation Video.

 

[mirandaleecon]

The best way I have found to candle is to use the flashlight setting on my smartphone. The case I have (otter box) has a perfect oval indent (where the camera and flash are) and the eggs sit in there perfectly while blocking out any excess light. I know not everyone has smartphones or otter box cases, but if you don't, I bet someone you know has one...

 

[kristaschics15]

I don't know...the one I saw as suspended in the white, not on the yolk like many are that I see when using to eat.
Blood or meat spots on the yolks might be much harder to see by candling.
When I broke that egg to eat (wasn't sure I could incubate it) it also had some 'dirt' floating in the white, hadn't ever seen that before so I didn't eat it.

They don't really bother me, I usually eat scrambled eggs and I just beat them in.
My customers don't seem to be bothered, I've explained what they are, or at least they don't complain for fear of feeling silly.

krista..... a meat or blood spot is created when the ovum(yolk) is released from the ovary and sometimes a small blood vessel breaks and get encapsulated with the egg.
I think it's mentioned in this video, which is fascinating Egg Formation Video.

Very informative video!! And from my Alma Mater to boot! War Eagle lol! Anyhow thank you that makes perfect sense!