When do you candle the chicken eggs and when to toss bad ones?

[junebuggena]

It's a bit large. Lowering the humidity a bit will slow the growth of the aircell. 48 is on the high side.

 

[junebuggena]

Leave it until at least day ten. It looks like there might be some growth in there. If there is no change after a few days, then crack it open and see. There is no harm in waiting another 3 days, just to be sure.

 

[annmarie33]

I thought you were supposed to higher the humidity to make the air cell smaller? That's what I read online

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You can't see the air cell in this pic very well because you are not candeing down into the air cell.

Now in this pic you can see the air cell and it looks fine.

And what would you think of these on day 7? Bad eggs?

Clear

Clear

Note: I do not remove my clears until day 10, but I have never had an egg that was clear at day 7 not still be clear at day 10.

I thought you were supposed to higher the humidity to make the air cell smaller? That's what I read online

You can't "make the air cell smaller". Once the air cell grows it doesn't shrink, but yes, in order to keep the air cell from getting bigger or slow down growth- you are right. You HIGHER the humidity. However- I see no reason for highering your humidity. As a matter of fact, I am uncomfortable when anyone tells me they are using over 45% humidity for the first 17 days (unless they are in a higher elevation.) I hatch by low humidity methods and prefer 30%. I'll give you the link to my method and you can see what I mean: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It's a bit large. Lowering the humidity a bit will slow the growth of the aircell. 48 is on the high side.

I agree 48 is high, however lowering humidity will increase the moisture loss thus increasing the air cell size. The one pic that you can actually see the air cell in, it doesn't look overly large.

 

[annmarie33]

I live in Texas and it's not in a super high humidity area but we are up higher altitude then normal bc we are at the top of a mountain. My humidity drops pretty fast in the incubator. I have to add water twice a day just to keep it at 45

Thanks so much I was worried! I left them in and will check on day 10 but so far it looks like only 4 out of the 11 shipped are actually growing. Does anyone have a hatchery they like getting eggs from? I didn't like the way they packages mine and would be interested in trying somewhere else

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I live in Texas and it's not in a super high humidity area but we are up higher altitude then normal bc we are at the top of a mountain. My humidity drops pretty fast in the incubator. I have to add water twice a day just to keep it at 45

Thanks so much I was worried! I left them in and will check on day 10 but so far it looks like only 4 out of the 11 shipped are actually growing. Does anyone have a hatchery they like getting eggs from? I didn't like the way they packages mine and would be interested in trying somewhere else

I don't do shipped eggs. I haven't wanted to risk a bad hatch...lol With that being said...do you have a specific breed in mind?? There are many BYCers right here that sell and ship with the uttmost care. I would check the sales/auction forum here for what you want and ask around. I know a couple different members with outstanding reputation for packing and hatch rates of their eggs and I am sure there's 3 or 4 people on my thread that can name some awesome sellers right here on BYC as well.

 

[annmarie33]

These are the two I pulled bc there wasn't any change from day 1 as far as I could tell. What does it look like- early death? I'm just learning but curious. Day 7

 

[AmyLynn2374]

These are the two I pulled bc there wasn't any change from day 1 as far as I could tell. What does it look like- early death? I'm just learning but curious. Day 7

It looks (to me) like they devloped the first 24-48 ish hours and stopped. There was definitely something going on there but it looks like it never went past the beginning cell division stage. Clears that I've cracked have always been pretty much "normal" looking.

 

[annmarie33]

Ok it's day 10. I put 2 of the 4 from my hen under her in the coop to hatch. So I have 2 in the incubator and 9 left from shipped eggs. Only 1 looked like my two in that you see veining and a chick moving. These 8 others I am confused. They don't smell. There appears to be air pockets and some sort of darker mass inside but no movement. I don't know if I should leave them or not! I'll post pictures