Candling is fun! I candled my first batch just about every day, lol. That may be partly why I had a rough hatch (four out of five made it to hatching day, one died without pipping, one required help out, two had umbilical cords attached, only three hatched alive, and only two still alive at 2 1/2 weeks old).
But I do plan to candle this time too. I will candle at 10 days for sure, but probably more like 7 days, because I don't think I can keep my hands off them long enough to wait till 10. Then I will discipline myself to candle at MOST every 3 days, and not to let the kids look at every single one with me (maybe just one or two each time--it takes much longer to candle when three kids want to see each and every one).
It is just such a miracle, and I just love watching the progression from day to day. But I WILL NOT DO IT EVERY DAY this time. I won't. Even if I have to go out of town for three days at a time!
You don't *have* to do it, but it is very helpful, especially in preventing dangerous explosions in your incubator. If one goes rotten and you don't notice, it can explode bacteria-laden goo all over your incubator and the other eggs, and can ruin an entire hatch. Although it seems like most eggs ooze a bit before actually exploding, the easiest way to notice the ooze is to take the eggs out from time to time and examine them (and while you're at it, you may as well candle). Also, candling can tell you early if an egg is going rotten, and you can go ahead and discard it before it even begin to ooze.
