Very 1st candling...What did I see?

[NashChic]

Okay, I set 14 BBS Ameraucana eggs in my brand new Brinsea on the 16th. This is my 1st hatch ever. They are shipped eggs, all arrived intact, I candled them to look for cracks/detached airsacs, and I weighed them. They also rested overnight. I noted that 2 seemed to have airsacs that moved around when I was candling. Is that a detached airsac?

Today is day 7. The incubator has been opened only once before now (I added water a couple of days ago). The Brinsea is FANTASTIC. The temp has not wavered at all. 99 on the dot, all the time.

I just finished candling for the first time and I'm really not sure what I saw. Most of the eggs (9 of 14) looked dark on one side towards the top. The darkness seemed to be attached to the shell and stayed in place as I moved the egg around. Airsacs were definitely larger than day 1. They had lost about 4-5% of there weight. I could only make out veins on 2 or 3 of them. One of the possible detached airsacs was in this group and I could definitely see veins in it.

I also had 3 that I thought still looked like regular yokes. Their dark spots were MUCH smaller on these 3 and weren't attached to the side. They moved around as I rotated the egg on the light... like a regular yoke. Does that mean these are infertile?

One egg looked like it had weird moving goop. "Moving" as in it rotated around the egg as I rotated the egg, not as in swimming baby. That's the best way I know how to describe it. It's the other one I notated as a possible detached airsac.

One was really dark and I couldn't make out too much, but from the pics I've seen of blood rings, I think maybe that's what I saw... a dark line.

Anyone have any thoughts? Does that all seem normal? Should I leave them all in for a while longer? I sniffed all the ones that looked different. No smellies.

Thanks for any and all advice!

PS. I'm following the dry hatch guidelines for humidity. That's why I'm weighing the eggs... to monitor the weight loss as a guide for manipulating the humidity. I'm shooting for about 12% weight loss by day 18.

 

[Wynette]

I typically use the weight-loss method as well, and find it's the very best way to hatch. But, I've never done a "dry hatch."

Please be very careful when rotating eggs around during candling...the chalaezia (I'm not sure how it's spelled) or little cord that attached the yolk to the white on each end can become wrapped around the fetus....this is bad. I found this out halfway through my very first hatch, and I'll never forget the dread in the pit of my stomach when I was told....AFTER I rotated the eggs around and around...I was SURE I killed them all. Ended up okay, but I guess it's because I rotated them very slowly.

Anywho...I think the blobs you're seeing are just fine; the ones that are much smaller MAY have stopped developing, but I'd leave them in just in case. You just never know. So long as they are not weeping/leaking or stinking, they're perfectly fine to leave in. Detached aircells sometimes DO hatch...that's probably what you're seeing on those eggs.

And....I never see veings after about day 6 - seems like I can see them about 4-6 days and then I never see them again. So, that's nothing to worry about, either. Sounds like you're doing GREAT!

 

[NashChic]

Oh man! Now I'm worried I rotated the eggs too much, fast, wrong

Is there any way to tell, or would they just stop developing? Also, I turned them upside down because that's the only way I could get a look at the airsac. I guess that's probably a no-no too

I plan to candle again on day 14. I'll definitely be more cautious then

 

[Katy]

Yep turning the egg upside down is a definate no-no. I candle mine from the top, not the bottom all the time anyway. Just shine the light down from the top of the egg and you'll be able to check aircell and veins at the same time.

 

[NashChic]

So what are the chances I just slaughtered all my little babies?!?!?!? This is terrible

Is there a candling tutorial somewhere? I've seen pics and descriptions of candling lights, but in all my hours on here, I've never seen all the dos and don'ts of candling.

Well now if I get a lot of duds, I'll know what happened

I'm so sick...

 

[nhnanna]

Don't beat yourself up. They are probably fine.
I would leave them all in until you candle on day 14.
Bue or green eggs can be very deceiving. If they don't stink or leak leave them in.
Good luck, sounds like you are doing fine.

 

[Wynette]

I agree with nhnanna - you really don't know, so don't beat yourself up. Like I mentioned, on my first hatch, I rotated them around and around SEVERAL times (but slowly) and THEN found out it's a no-no - none of mine died, so a bit of rotating is okay, apparently, you just don't want to do it really fast, or tip the egg end to end.

I always candle mine horizontally, as they naturally lay. I have an old slide projector candler; it's the BEST (recommended by Speckledhen, and she's done a whole heck of a lot of candling, so I trust her!!). My DH made a little wooden "crib" for it so that it points up toward the ceiling. Then, I used an old washcloth, folded it over, and cut a small oval hole in it - then put that over the lens with a rubber band. The egg sits nicely, and the washrag blocks the light from coming around it. You can just put the egg on there and rotate it a bit, with the soft washcloth preventing any damage, and you can thus use both hands - not one on a flashlight and one holding the egg.

Anyway, I'm sure you didn't kill your babies! There's SO darn much to know about incubating!!

We've all "lived and learned."