Update: Toss or KEEP (nevermind go on and read this though :)

[The Wolf Queen]

ok im going to cut down numbers tomarrow and hope I dont throw away any good ones (sigh)

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Hey if you look in the egg and you do not see veins, the egg is dead right?

 

[Calebs Acre]

Oh, gosh, don't shake them!!! What the other person said...you can kill them!!!

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Cable Acres said: Oh, gosh, don't shake them!!! What the other person said...you can kill them!!!

Dont worry I have done it 3 times then read this and quit, but seriously can anyone tell me when I should and SHOULDNT be seeing membranes or veins or are they the same thing?​

 

[rizq]

If they are all different ages, it is hard to tell you what you should be seeing because we do not know how far along the eggs are. If you know what to look for and have a good flashlight, a dark room and a good eye, you should be able to see veining at 3 days. Movement should be discrenable by 10 days ... maybe earlier, but I candle at 3, 10 and 18 days usually. At 10 days the embryo will look like a dark, bouncing spot inside the egg. At 18 days the egg should be pretty full except the air cell. It is a lot harder to see movement because there just is not much room for them to move, but if you watch closely you can see them move (unless they are sleeping, or whatever it is they do to try to convince you they quit).

After day 18, they should be left alone.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

rizq said:If you know what to look for and have a good flashlight, a dark room and a good eye, you should be able to see veining at 3 days.

so do you see veins the whole 21 days or does that go away after a bit?​

 

[rizq]

Well, once the chick starts filling the egg you stop seeing the veins so much since the chick blocks them from view

If you see veins, that is good. I do not believe you see veins very long after death.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Thanks rizq. That really helps

. Also if there is a chick and not just mush there will be a solid dark shape, not a brown almost see through blob right? ... Yep Im burying eggs tomarrow
Im SOOOOOOOOO nervous can u tell this my 1rst hatch? The older eggs were unplanned, where as I just set a planned one SAT and SUN. Also feel free to ask why i have 2 unplanned hatches coming. Somewhat funny story (not hilarious though) actually.

 

[rizq]

If your light is bright enough it may make the blob almost see through. They really are not terribly solid early in development. I would look mostly for movement, but do not necessarily give up on it just because you do not see it move, sometimes they do not. Mark eggs you know are good (I use a smiley face) and eggs you think might be good (I use a question mark). If I have room to keep eggs that appear clear early on, I will mark them with an X and check again in a few days. If space is at a premium (as in your case) I toss clear eggs, but not any sooner than 5-7 days ... which is about where you will be tomorrow so it is a good time to look

 

[dancingbear]

You probably have eggs in all different stages of development. Since you have two hens, you might try this:

With a black sharpie in hand for marking, and two or three cartons handy for sorting, candle all the eggs, take out the ones you don't see any development in. Those are called "clears". They may be infertile, or they may be brand new and haven't started yet. Either way, take 'em out. Put clears in one carton. Then, put the ones with dark blobs that look about the same stage in another. Put eggs with veining and what looks like a dark spider in another. Or whatever stage of development you seem to have the most of. The older stage ones, mark with a guessed at date, or "O" for older, or whatever word or number or symbol works for you. Stick those under one hen. The others, the spider-and-veins-stage eggs, mark differently fron the first set, and stick them under the other hen.

If the first bunch hatches nearly at the same time, you might be able to save most of them. At least some of them. When the first ones hatch, if both these hens are together, they may both leave the nest with the chicks. You might be able to separate one hen with the chicks, and perhaps the other will continue to set on the other eggs. It would be better if you could separate these girls, though. Stick one in a coop or big dog crate or something with her share of the eggs, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Then you can let the other hen stay on the original nest. But check everyday, and remove any new eggs that get added.

Good luck with this! Let us know what happens, and I hope you didn't already kill the eggs by shaking them.