when to candle??

[spish]

im on day three/four and am wondering on which day should i candle the eggs and what exactly should i be looking for? ive candled 'broodys' eggs before and never could tell what i was looking for/looking at (bad, good, veins, rings etc)

is there a clear diagram somewhere (not drawings but 'real' photos?)


thanks

 

[mstricer]

I don't candle until day 18. Early on I can't see what others say they see. I would just rather not handle too much. I heard of people even candling eggs that are under a broodie. "I'm sure she's not saying You see something in there." To me its not necessary, probably because no mater what kind of light I use I can't see the veining so I just leave them alone. Good Luck. I'm on day seven.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Unless space for more eggs is an issue I think candling should be skipped all together. If you do it wait till day 7 for the first one an don throw anything out till day 14.

Here are pictures. These have been photo-shopped to show better.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261876

 

[spish]

im just worried about all these stories u hear of exploding bad aggs...would hate for one to go pop in the incubator!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

This one shows bloodrings.
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs32.htm

 

[mstricer]

Did you put cracked eggs or old eggs in it. If not then shouldn't have anything to worry about. I put a couple of Fav. eggs in mine that were just at 10 days and I'm really not that worrried. But now you got me thinking about it. Thanks LOL

 

[Hottchick]

I'm on day 10, candled earlier and wasn't really sure. Now, I clearly can see the chick's eye in the egg and the chick is moving around in there. A couple I'm not sure of but I will leave them all unless they start to smell. My kids were thrilled to see the few that have live chicks moving around.

I think I'm going to just leave them alone the rest of the time. I'm afraid I will hurt something and I really want some chicks to hatch. But it is so awesome to see them moving in the egg!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

They put off a smell for a day or two before there in danger of going pop. Just smell the incubator vents every day. If it stinks then pull all the eggs an smell them all. Throw away any that stink or are leaking. Ive only had one go pop on me an it the incubator had been unchecked for over a week that time.

 

[spish]

i think the oldest egg in there was 12 days old...the rest were all 'fresh' eggs (5 days old or less)

thanks for the links!

 

[Hackmatack Ridge Farm]

I candle on about day 4 or 5. Once you get used to candling it becomes very obvious the difference between growing, dead, and infertile eggs. Its all experience so just keep trying.

Unless space for more eggs is an issue I think candling should be skipped all together.

If you don't candle and you have a dead one then you could be exposing all the rest of the eggs to deadly bacteria. I have lost healthy eggs before to a dead and roting one.​