Ugh, disappointment.

[Miss Red]

So today my broody hen got off her/Piggy's nest. It has been four days since the first egg hatched, so I figured none of the eggs left were any good. I tried candeling them, I saw black spots. I said, okay these are bad... black spots must be air pockets. Nope! They were chicks, about a day away from hatching and one was still kicking after I tossed the eggs to the boys. I felt so bad.

So, when candeling eggs this far into incubation black spots are good? What's the easiest way to tell good egg from bad egg aside from the spots that rotten eggs [ or at least rotten eggs here ] get from bacteria?

ETA: Well, if I'd have just searched from the beginning... rofl. I found the most informative board stickied right here. Should have checked it first!

 

[Illia]

Rotten eggs will usually have a thick dark ring on the edge of the "black spot" - Good eggs will be one huge mass of black, with of course the bright air cell on the blunt end of the egg.

So sorry to hear of that experience. . . I have yet to do something like that, except, well, yes, I did once crack open all the unhatched eggs after one of my hatches was done - And there was a chick still gasping for air, and trying to move its head. . . It was really underdeveloped though, and was floating in liquid. It also couldn't actually "peep" but just gasp. I had to cull the poor thing - It was horrifying to see such a chick.