worried

[AwallRooster]

its the 6 day of my eggs, an i have been candleing them ,an i see a dark round spot move inside the eggs as i turn them during candleing, does mean the embro is dead??

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

What you are probably seeing is the embryo. At day 5 or 6, the embryo is about the size of the tip of your pinkie. Well, that holds true for my hand, anyway! You see it move around because the embryo develops sort of "floating" on the surface of the egg yolk. The blood vessels radiate out of what will be the chick's navel area. I try to wait until day 10 to candle my eggs for the first time. At that point, you get a very clear positive or negative result and can discard duds with confidence and ease. By the time a chick is ten days old, it has pretty large eyes and the body (wings, torso, and legs) is about the size of the pad of your thumb while the head and those jumbo eyes are about the same size (imagine a fairly symmetrical peanut).

 

[AwallRooster]

Thanks for the reply,but i"m not seeing any veins in the eggs,could this be because my eggs are brown an hard to candle through, or is it jus me being worried,?

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

The veins are much easier to see around day 10. Darker shells are harder to see through as well. I would suggest you not candle them again until day 10 of incubation. You will be able to determine then whether you've got strong development or if an embryo has quit growing.

Depending on how many eggs you've set, you can always crack one open and see for yourself whether there is development or not. While you will lose that particular embryo, it is a learning experience. See my thread today about testing an egg that had been in a non-functioning incubator for the better part of a day due to power outage. Sometimes it is helpful to have everything laid out in plain sight. Then you'll be better able to recognize what you see through the shell.

 

[AwallRooster]

Candle my six eggs today an could definitely see the embryos in 4 of the eggs
Always let my broody hen hatch the eggs, but sadly she past away back in the winter, bless her soul, this is the first time for use using a incubation method, and today was a awesome day for us when we candle the eggs an seen life.
Thanks OldChurchegger.