Shell Too Think To Candle

[RoosterDon]

Half of our eggs are too thick to candle, especially the easter eggers (blue and green). This is our 4th incubating and hatching, and I have yet to have one explode, but there is an objectionable odor that develops from the bad eggs. I don't want to risk throwing out a good fertile egg.

What is the longest an egg should be waited on to hatch before you give up?

Does anyone else have this problem and what do you do?

I candle at the 7 day mark and could tell fertile ones and clear ones, but others there was no way to tell, including today which is day 16.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I usually wait 4 days after the hatch date to turn the incubator off. I would maybe try a different candler. I would highly recommend the Brinsea ova view candler. They do a standard one and a more high intensity one. It's easy to handle and makes a good seal around the egg so that you don't have light escaping. If you are incubating chicken eggs and are on day 16 your egg will be quite full now with chick so that also makes it harder to see any movement in the egg. Wishing you the very best of luck with your eggs