What are my eggs telling me?

[Rorie]

So i checked my eggs after day 3, saw nothing. I was told it was too soon and to leave it until at least day 7.

Day 7 has now just finished, so i checked them.

One egg has a clear crack down it - should i ditch this egg now? I have read this can be risky for later on?

I still cannot see any spidering. One egg has a thin ring around it - could be a 'blood ring' i think its called?

about half the other eggs are really clear inside - the egg lights up a lot. There is a dark shadow inside, but nothing other than that.

The other half don't let much light in at all! They are really dark and appear to be about 75% shadow.

Hope my descriptions are ok, as taking photos will be tricky haha.

Hope someone can advise me if this means anything, or if its still too early? I don't recognise them against any photos of eggs at this stage

Thanks!

 

[Rorie]

Anybody? Help is much appreciated!

 

[MuscovyMad]

Hey

The one with a ring i it should be binned asap as it suggests it's got bacteria growing in it and after a while the egg will pop and cover the other eggs in the bacteria and thn they will all die off. It' only happened to me once before but i wouldn't risk it.

The one with the crack in it i'd bin to as it could become infected. However you could try placing a thin strip of tape over it so that it doesn't lose to much moisture.

As for the ones with shadows that could just be the yolk. The embryo isn't particularly large at 7 days. However you may be able to see a black dot hovering back and forward which is the embryos eye.

My best advice would be for you to candle them with a brighter light in a dark room. I put them under a towel in a dark room to get it even darker. The darker the environment and brighter the light the more you will see and you'll have a much better idea of what is going on.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[SpiritedFarm]

Because of an experience I just had, I would not rush things.

First off, liquid band-aid works great for small cracks.

I am no candling expert, but I was sure I had a blood ring at the 7 day candling, thought I best wait till next candling to be sure.
I set the egg off to the side (I have a large cabinet incubator) missed candling it at 14 days and I found it yesterday when i was putting the eggs in lockdown. I was very pleased to see little feet kicking about in the light when I candled it.

My new motto is to not throw any eggs away till 14 day candling.

MuscovyMad hit the nail on the head telling you about the bacteria!! Thing is, I have never had any trouble prior to 14 days.

Some folks with more experience may say that an egg could explode prior to 14 days. Hopefully that will comment on this thread and we could both learn!

MuscovyMad, did your egg explode prior to 14days?

Best of luck with your hatch Rorie!

 

[Rorie]

Thanks for the replies. I would be interested to see when people thing we should chuck eggs as i have read before not to chuck eggs until quite late on, like you suggested.

Hopefully in a couple days i can candle again and maybe see something ore encouraging!

 

[SilkieChickenLover336]

may we have pictures? i am having a hard time understanding

 

[MuscovyMad]

I can't remember how long into the incubation the eggs were when they exploded but i think it quite possibly was before 14 days. The eggs belonged to bantams though so the bacteria wouldn't need to grow as much in order for the egg to explode seems as it is half the size. It would be interesting to know though.

Instead of binning the egg Rorie you could keep an eye on it and candle it in a few days. If in doubt you could keep it but have a smell of it daily and as soon as you notice a smell bin it as that definitley means it's rotten.

ps i'm the worst for leaving eggs too long in the hope they hatch. I frequently leave eggs in the bator till day 28 in the event that the chicks just a slow developer. Even though i know for a fact nothing is going to happen

 

[Rorie]

I have FINALLY seen some spidering. I tried to take photos but it didn't work.

I'd say about 4 out of 12 eggs have a really dark mass in them. When i look REALLY carefully at the dark mass there is spidering. I therefore assume the others - which are really light and i can just see the yolk - are infertile.

Annoyingly i dropped an egg!! And its one that had spidering A split second and now i'm kicking myself

 

[SilkieChickenLover336]

its ok. i do that all the time! we all make mistakes!

 

[wrestling_mom]

Try an LED flashlight. I can see veins at day TWO, no exaggeration