When to Candle?

[cluckfan]

I just set my eggs this morning. When should I candle. Is it really necessary? This is my first time to set eggs. 7 Lavender Orps and six barnyard mixed.

 

[weimarmama]

I usually don't candle until day 7, then again at days 14 & 18. Usually by 7 days you'll have a good idea of which ones are developing. If there are any that I'm unsure about I leave them until the next time I candle.

 

[tec27]

candle around day 4. its interesting seeing the veins and everything grow during this time. and by this time u will know if anything is growing or not. this time is also when blood rings mainly occur. so its good to cull them now. but you can always wait to make sure.

 

[Illia]

I always candle at day 3 but I'm pretty experienced. I'd recommend you candle anytime at or after day 7. And yes, it is very necessary

 

[Lacrystol]

Are these shipped eggs? If they are you should have candled them as soon as you got them in the dark because sometimes they have a hair like crack that you can't see with the naked eye. But as soon as you candle them BOOOm there it is.. You can see the cracks..

 

[yinepu]

i candle eggs when I go to set them to check for hairline cracks

then again at day 7 or 10 depending on egg color and type of bird (ducks are day 10 as well as dark shelled eggs)

then candle once more at lockdown



candling too early wont show you if every egg is viable or not... slow starters or not strong enough candling light will tend to look like infertile eggs or clears.. however if you wait until day 7 or 10 it pretty much removes all doubt as to if an egg is good or not.. just make sure your light is strong enough.. especially for dark shelled eggs

 

[Gypsy07]

You can candle them whenever you like, but in general, the less handling you do the better hatch results you will get.

And if you're new to it, don't be too quick to toss out ones you think are clear. Sometimes it's hard to tell what you're looking at, especially if you haven't done it before. Early candling can help you to learn what you're seeing. Best way to do it is to mark the eggs according to what you think you see in them (clear/developing ok/not sure), then put them all back in and look againa few days later. You'll probably find that some you thought were duds will go on to hatch and some you thought were good won't...

 

[speedy2020]

I found 10 days and before lock down work best.

 

[CarolJ]

I'm so glad I saw this thread. I just set my first batch of eggs on Monday - so I'm just one day ahead of you. I was wondering the same thing about candling. I bought a strong LED flashlight at the store awhile ago, and I was wondering if I should go ahead and candle a couple eggs - just to see what I could see. Good luck with your hatch!!!

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

We always candle on day 10 as there is no mistaking whether it is fertile or not and then check again on day 18 (lockdown) so we don't wind up waiting for eggs to hatch where the chicks didn't make it for some reason or another. We usually hatch 90 to 100% of the eggs that make it to lockdown.