candling

[ash11]

I'm having trouble figuring out what is going on with one of my eggs. At day 2 I candled and it had a small black spot looks like its floating around in there. It didn't smell so I left it in there (none of the other eggs had this). Now at day 5 I see veins in there I couldn't see them before. But I'm confused because I can't tell if there is the red ring of death, or if it's just a circle surrounding the veins. At first I thought it was bad cause I couldn't see any veins and it has the little black spot, but now I'm just confused. All the pics I looked at on google and on here show that when there is that black spot it's dead and of course the red ring of death. None of the pics I have looked at look like mine. I tried to take a pic but my camera phone sucks! Should I leave it in there and wait, or is it dead? Also I can't see any veins at all in my black australorp eggs. And I see veins in 4 out of 6 of my speckled sussex eggs. They have been incubating 5 days now, how much longer should I wait until I start taking out the other eggs? I don't want to take them out too soon but I also don't want to leave them in too long and have them explode. Thanks!

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

Just a suggestion: We candle at day 10 and day 18 and it saves us a whole lot of grief. You will know by day 10 if it is fertile and still alive and by day 18 we check to make sure it is still developing. If so, it goes into the hatcher for lockdown. It makes life so much simpler and prevents the eggs from unnecessary cooling by taking them in and out of the incubator.

As far as eggs exploding, just candle the eggs before you first put them in the incubator. As long as they are not rotten when you first put them in, candling at day 10 and day 18 should give you enough time to take out any bad eggs. I hope this helps.

 

[ash11]

Thank you! Last night I could really see the red ring in the egg, so I decided to crack it open to be sure. It was in fact dead

. I'm going to hold off on candling for a while now...I'm driving myself crazy! But this is really helpful to be able to talk to people who have done this before. Thanks again!

 

[weaversfarm]

How do you candle brown eggs? I have always had brown egg layers and even using my husbands spotlight I can't see well enough to see if anything is in there. What do people with brown egg layers use to candle eggs?

 

[silkiechicken]

Just a suggestion: We candle at day 10 and day 18 and it saves us a whole lot of grief. You will know by day 10 if it is fertile and still alive and by day 18 we check to make sure it is still developing. If so, it goes into the hatcher for lockdown. It makes life so much simpler and prevents the eggs from unnecessary cooling by taking them in and out of the incubator.

As far as eggs exploding, just candle the eggs before you first put them in the incubator. As long as they are not rotten when you first put them in, candling at day 10 and day 18 should give you enough time to take out any bad eggs. I hope this helps.

Yes this!

That is spot on.

If you want reference pics, take a peek at the candling thread.

As for dark shells, you need directional lumens. Projectors or high power directional flash lights. Even then, some pigment is so dark you just have to wait and see.

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

We use a $15 candler from Meyer hatchery and it works well enough at day 10 and day 18 even with our Maran eggs. With the Maran eggs it is hard to see a lot, but we can tell by the size of the dark mass in the egg whether or not it is developing. We have our eggs upside down in their trays and just place the candler at the top of the egg looking straight down. Good luck with your hatch. I know it can be a nail biting experience, but well worth it.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Just a suggestion: We candle at day 10 and day 18 and it saves us a whole lot of grief. You will know by day 10 if it is fertile and still alive and by day 18 we check to make sure it is still developing. If so, it goes into the hatcher for lockdown. It makes life so much simpler and prevents the eggs from unnecessary cooling by taking them in and out of the incubator.

As far as eggs exploding, just candle the eggs before you first put them in the incubator. As long as they are not rotten when you first put them in, candling at day 10 and day 18 should give you enough time to take out any bad eggs. I hope this helps.

x2 Great suggestions!! Good luck with your hatch!

But remember if your NOT sure... LEAVE it in the bator!

 

[ash11]

Thanks everyone! I have been keeping my hands off lol! out of 14 eggs I can definately see veins in 4. The rest I have no idea...guess I'll find out soon enough what's in the rest. Thanks everyone!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

 

[featherlfull us]

Hi guys! I wanted to know how often can i candle my eggs?

i'm scared that i will scramble them or something because I love candling so much...