BYC Valentine's Day Hatch-a-Long

[Happy Novogens]

How did everyone else's candling go?

I tried candling my eggs today. I'm having a hard time making anything out. Weighing doesn't seem to be helping either. My digital scale is in whole grams, not fractions and the numbers aren't making any sense.

Today is Day 5. This is what I'm seeing...

Most of them look like eggs A & B -- don't see anything with point down, but when I flip them over, there is a large dark blob along the side. Could this be the chick? I certainly cannot see a small dark circle or any veins at all per the diagrams I use to compare.

Egg C, on the other hand, has that darkness that goes to the top of the egg whether pointed down or up. I'm guessing this is a bad egg?

 

[SourRoses]

I tried candling my eggs today. I'm having a hard time making anything out.

Umm... I'm not a great candler myself. But if I were doing those I would think they weren't developing. It might help if you had a strong flashlight to candle with instead...
What do you think @Debbie292d ?

 

[Debbie292d]

Umm... I'm not a great candler myself. But if I were doing those I would think they weren't developing. It might help if you had a strong flashlight to candle with instead...
What do you think @Debbie292d ?

I have to agree, those don't look good to me either.

You should be seeing a black blob or dot and then veins coming from it, kind of spider-looking.

 

[Debbie292d]

How did everyone else's candling go?

I removed 11 of 48, then put in 15 fresh ones. (Staggered hatching.)

This was way better than I thought! I did mark and leave in about six that I wasn't too sure about. They maybe started and died, but left them in just to be sure. I've hatched a few that had question marks on them in the past, so when not sure, I just mark them and leave them.

I have a second incubator. I'll move the ones that are due on the 14th to on the 9th. (I do five-day lockdowns).

 

[Happy Novogens]

I have to agree, those don't look good to me either.

You should be seeing a black blob or dot and then veins coming from it, kind of spider-looking.

Could it be that the brown shell is preventing me from seeing?

Could it be that all 13 eggs are bad?

I couldn't see anything more on any of the eggs. Most looked like A & B... the remaining ones looked like C.

 

[Debbie292d]

Could it be that the brown shell is preventing me from seeing?

Could it be that all 13 eggs are bad?

I couldn't see anything more on any of the eggs. Most looked like A & B... the remaining ones looked like C.

That is the yolk you're seeing, so you should be able to see if there was a dark dot with veins.

Possibly they weren't fertile? Have the temps and humidity stayed close to 99.5F and 40-50%? Unless way off, they still should have something showing there that looks like an embryo.

 

[Happy Novogens]

That is the yolk you're seeing, so you should be able to see if there was a dark dot with veins.

Possibly they weren't fertile? Have the temps and humidity stayed close to 99.5F and 40-50%? Unless way off, they still should have something showing there that looks like an embryo.

The temp has for sure been stable. The hygrometers vary from each other but have been reading 47-56.

I don't know if they are fertile. I have a rooster and 7 hens. I assume he's been doing his duty. I figured at least
some had to be fertile.

Am I missing something?

 

[Debbie292d]

The temp has for sure been stable. The hygrometers vary from each other but have been reading 47-56.

I don't know if they are fertile. I have a rooster and 7 hens. I assume he's been doing his duty. I figured at least
some had to be fertile.

Am I missing something?

It sounds like your incubator is doing fine.

Maybe it's his age or theirs? Like is he very young yet, as in under a year old? I think most roosters can mate probably around 6 months, but are more efficient a little older.

 

[Happy Novogens]

It sounds like your incubator is doing fine.

Maybe it's his age or theirs? Like is he very young yet, as in under a year old? I think most roosters can mate probably around 6 months, but are more efficient a little older.

I just double-checked his age. He hatched October of 2022, so he's 2 years and 3 months old. Could that be too old?

 

[Debbie292d]

I just double-checked his age. He hatched October of 2022, so he's 2 years and 3 months old. Could that be too old?

Oh no, not even close in my opinion.

I've got a silkie rooster that's older than dust and had put some of the old hen's eggs in this, and they were all fertile. Those ones are of the pet quality bunch I have. I was desperate to get a lot of eggs for this so was stealing them from everywhere.