I am incubating eggs for the first time. Also trying to candle them for the first time! I have read different sources of information about what I should be seeing but I'm still uncertain if the eggs are duds or not. They have been in the incubator for 10 days now. Three I really didn't see a thing so I cracked them open and there was nothing at all unusual about them - yolk and white. Were they just unfertile? What should I be seeing at this point?

-- J Flynn (flynn4@netzero.net), April 01, 2002

Answers

Might look at this link: Univ. Illinois, http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/eggs/res25-candler.html and click on the link about Candling Eggs at the bottom for more specific information.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002.

Don't be too discouraged. Candeling is a bit of art and skill and improves with time.

First, a proper light box is helpful. Many books have designs, but I usually use an extension light in a cardboard box with a hole cut just above the level of the bulb to fit the egg into. I've also used a five cell flashlight with my hand between the glass face and the egg as a gasket. This is best done @ night, or in a darkened room.

Next, get familiar with normal yoke anatomy ( on store bought eggs which are uniformly sterile). The fertile egg will have a barely discernable difference which is the embryo. This takes practice. The later you candle after the egg is laid, the more pronounced the differences, with larger embryo ("blood spot") and visible veins.

One other clue. This may sound subjective, but over the years I've noticed a hen setting on fertile eggs pecks harder when you go to remove them; sometimes drawing blood! Mine do anyway, but perhaps this is a later behavior, once she detects feedback from the embryo.

Good luck!

-- Don Mruk (mruks@crystal-mtn.com), April 01, 2002.

What you see: I have done this for 30 years and can tell on a 48 hour incubated egg if it is fertile or not. 1. White eggs you (most people) can see something at about the 4-5th day. 2. Brown eggs, green eggs, sometimes can't tell at all. Blue eggs , you can tell by 7 days. 3. The first thing that you will probably see is a dark sopt. 4. The best thing to see is a SPIDER. The veins growing from the necleus (sp) look like a spider and from then on it gets bigger. 5. If you see a ring around the inside of the egg (blood ring) the egg has died.

hope I helped some.

-- Bonnie in indiana (queqid@att.net), April 01, 2002.

Flynn: If the three you cracked, after ten days, were perfectly normal, no blood veins, no living mass in the egg, they were infertile.

At ten days you should be able to spot blood veins in the egg, looking like spider webs across the light. If you are going to do this for a hobby, spend ten dollars and buy a candling light from GQF manufacturing (They are on the web). If you cannot do this, but a strong light (l00 watt bulb or larger) in a cardboard box with a 50- cent piece sized hole in the box. If you put the box in a darkened room you should be able to see what is in the egg when you place the egg over the hole. Another way to do this is to cut a hole in a piece of kitchen sponge--the hole should be just large enough to let the end of the egg fit part way inside. Then place the sponge over the end of a good flashlight so that it forms a seal and does not let any light out except thru that hole. You can now use the flashlight as a candling light by placing the egg over the hole in the sponge. All the sponge does is form a lightproof, soft seal between the egg and the light.

Mac

-- Jimmy S (Macrocarpus@gbronlin.com), April 01, 2002.

J. For some great sequential photos of fertile(and non fertile)eggs, and great plans for a coffe candler go to www.poultryconnection.com, click on General Waterfowl Forum, go to LINKS and Quackers Home Page. The photos show both duck eggs and chicken eggs and are terrific. Turn on your speakers while there and listen to some fun music while you are at it! :) LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 01, 2002.

Were the three you cracked different from the others? A small flashlight sold at Wal-Mart called the Mag Lite works great. I have never needed a gasket. The mag lite lets me candle with the eggs in the incubator. And, yes, you should be able to see the spider webs by now. It is really great to be able to see the chick growing inside the egg. With the Mag Lite, I have been able to see them moving at later stages.

-- Robin Downing (Southpawrobin1@aol.com), April 02, 2002.

Thanks for all the wonderful information. I have come to the conclusion that the eggs I got were either infertile to begin with or got too cold during shipping. I cracked 2 more open last night and nothing. That's 8 out of 10 so far! The other 2 have larger dark areas in them so maybe..... I didn't spend alot of money on them - it was kind of an experiment with my kids. Would have been an interesting chicken though - Light Brahma crossed with Buff Minorca. I got some silkie eggs from another source the other day and after 3 days I can already see the spot and spidery veins that everyone describes. So we may get chickies yet!!

-- J Flynn (flynn4@netzero.net), April 02, 2002.