What is the benefit of Candling eggs ?

[wpalmisano]

Ok guys, when I hatch birds for whatever reason I "Dont count my chickens before they hatch." For one, for any beginner or even novice, candling Coturnix eggs is difficult. Even us folks with a little experience can screw that up. I have three batches of eggs in my Sportsman 1502 now. 13 Ameracauna, and two batches of 10 Coturnix eggs about a week apart. Occasionally I may candle to show guests, or the kids, or to see if things are going well, I may even take a rare random sample. Never had an issue when I didn't candle. Hatch rate is the same, never had an egg stink really bad, or explode. I see a lot of questions from newbies about it. Can someone tell me what the emphasis is?

 

[xxSonja]

I only have buttons, chickens and ducks but i candle all of their eggs, mainly so that i dont waste time, energy and money on dead eggs.
It also helps me keep track of whos eggs seem to thrive and whos dont make it through to hatching.
Lets say i have a batch of duck eggs in the bator, its gonna take about 4 weeks to incubate, if they all quit in the first week, and i dont candle, im wasting 3 more weeks of checking temps and humidity, panicking if i lose power. When i could candle, know they're bad, and chuck a new batch in straight away and only have lost that first week.
Same if i have them under a broody, i dont want her to run her self down sitting on eggs never gonna hatch, its not good for her.
Does that make sense or am i rambling?

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE IS SPACE USE.... IF YOU CONTINUALLY SET EGGS AND SPACE IN THE BATOR IS ALWAYS AT A PREMIUM THEN CANDLING AND DISCARDING THE DUDS OPENS UP MORE SPACE FOR NEW EGGS. PERSONALLY I DONT CANDLE COTURNIX, AND HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY WITH MANY DARK EGGS SUCH AS AMERICAUNA, RING NECK, ETC... I DO CANDLE MOST WHEN MOVING FROM BATOR TO HATCHER, DISCARD THE DUDS AT THAT TIME.

 

[Stellar]

Candling does have an advantage when you are incubating a lot of eggs. I agree with JJ with incubator and hatcher space. It helps a lot. I do not candle my button eggs because the eggs are tiny and they chill very fast. I candle coturnix when moving to the hatcher just because I get large amounts of them and remove duds and early deads to make more room. I also candle duck and chicken eggs because they are larger and take a lot of hatcher space if they are duds or early deads.

 

[wpalmisano]

Quote:
Ok that makes sense, space issues. Then my next question is How do you keep track of eggs with a bunch of different hatch dates? I have a 1502 and with 3 trays, set one batch of eggs each week, and each week a batch in the hatcher drawer in the bottom. If I was putting in more eggs every day, I would lose all track. Plus, the hatching and brooding would be tough too. I'd be going crazy, lol. Thanks for the quick responses guys. (and gals) you are awesome.

 

[Stellar]

I label my eggs

and put dates in a spreadsheet

 

[xxSonja]

Mark your eggs for each lot.
I always have marked eggs and i keep a hatch record book.
You could brood the chicks seperately or if brooding chicks from various hatch dates together you should be able to tell them apart just by size, they grow so quick! Or you could mark them with food dye or something similar.

 

[joe125]

Quote:
LOL...just admit your fair share of quail chicks riding the rails

Yup....I have an app for that!

 

[Stellar]

Of course there are some that hatch early and I get some riding the turners. They get their own theme park at day one !

 

[JJMR794]

Keeping Track Of Multiple Settings/ Hatch Dates Is Very Very Easy

1. Date Or Label Your Eggs

2. Www. Brinsea.com , Download The Free Trail Version Of "eggwise" - Their Tracking Software And Try It Free For 30 Days--- See If You Like It... If So Pay Them The Fee And They Will Both Email You The Unlock Code For Full Use, And Mail You A Hard Copy Of The Program On Dvd Rom For Backup Copy