To candle or not to candle?

[sharingchickens]

This is my first time incubating eggs. I purchased the best incubator on the market (brinsea advance) and all seems to be going well. Today is day is day 5 and I have tried candling with a led flashlight and really can't see much. They are all light brown and dark brown in color. Am I better off just leaving them alone and waiting it out?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's up to you. I rarely candle since the eggs are so dark. Try taking the lens out of the flashlight so the egg sits down closer to the LED.
Rather than candle I weigh the eggs when I set them and at intervals to make sure weight loss is going well. They should lose about 0.65% a day. I candle before moving to the hatcher just to make sure they are filling up.

 

[jeremyhodges]

While I've never incubated chickens eggs, I did incubate endangered birds' eggs for the San Diego Zoo for 7 years. We had many eggs that were dark colored, making candling difficult. In my experience, the only real benefit to candling would be to be able to remove any infertile eggs that weren't developing. The only thing growing in them is bacteria!! Other than that, it's very uncommon to see a problem on candling that you can take preventive action on. That being said, it is very cool to see the embryos developing so I totally understand why people like to candle so much!!!

 

[mulia24]

Usually there must be vein visible when you candling it in their first week if you are using proper torch in proper room/location(dark).

I love to candling them, watching their development day by day.

If it's impossible for the light to penetrate the egg shell, you can only rely on the bator for the whole process, hoping the bator will done its job well.

Good luck for you.

 

[sharingchickens]

Checking the weight before hand sounds like a great idea! I will have to do that on the next group. And I do want to see the development, but the safety of the growing chick is much more important to me. I just need to resist messing with them. Thanks for your replies!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Weighing them lets you know if the humidity is correct or needs to be adjusted. I don't seem to be able to find very accurate hygrometers.
I don't pull eggs unless I have a leaker or stinker.

 

[sharingchickens]

At what point do the stinkers and the leakers make themselves known usually?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The stinkers, when you open the incubator. The leakers, you won't know unless you try to pick them up and they stick to the turner or whatever. Those that leak are usually from an imperceptible crack.

 

[lazy gardener]

When they start leaking or stinking! If you put your nose over the eggs, you'll pick up that there's a stinker. Then you'll have to pick up each egg, and sniff it. Have something handy that is pleasant smelling
between sniffing each egg, so your nose will be able to pick up any subtle difference. If you're gentle, you won't hurt them by candling them. Take them into a VERY dark room, even a closet with the door shut, and a VERY bright light. You can sometimes see better if you candle through the air sack. I know that they say not to tip them upside down, but if it's after day 7, a bit of a head stand won't hurt them. View some of the candling threads before you do it. As you candle them, you can mark each egg with a Y or a ? to indicate that they are developing correctly, or not sure. Any that are definite duds, you'll want to remove before they become a leaker or stinker! If nothing else, you can at least use a pencil to mark the air sac so when you check it as it gets closer to hatch date, you can compare it to the charts to be sure they're loosing volume correctly. IMO, candling, and watching the embryo develop is half of the fun of incubation.