Author Topic: candling hen eggs? (Read 2655 times)

Mays · « **on:** May 03, 2011, 10:19:12 pm »

So do u guys candle your eggs? and if so how often, and whens best time to do it? my eggs are on day 14 of being sat on

BlueDaisy · « **Reply #1 on:** May 03, 2011, 10:54:23 pm »

Yes and now

BUT i use an incubator, if your eggs are under a bolshy broody hen, good luck

meebh · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2011, 12:28:41 pm »

if you are around when the broody needs the loo or food just collect the eggs and do it then.

Last year we did actually have to a 2 person operation with gardening gloves......one top lift the hen and the other to snatch the eggs.

Good luck

Hermit · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2011, 03:08:45 pm »

We candle eggs in the incubators as bad eggs can turn the good ones bad. A broody hen knows to push the bad ones away from the nest anyway. We candled the runner duck eggs the other day and could see little beaks!!!!. Unfortunately a power cut affected the fan and it was a few days before we noticed and some were ruined

. Now we have a couple of broodies on eggs so the pros are in charge now

It-needed-a-home · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2011, 04:17:16 pm »

If your hen is serous about sitting you wont get near them !!!!

i would advise to wear gloves if you plan to move her off my hen go crazy but sometimes you have to remember and get them off to eat and drink or they can die

when was the last time your hen was out drinking and eating (do not feed them in the nest causes heaps of problems)

Mays · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2011, 05:11:18 pm »

Right job done!

the hen is getting up about once a day, or once every other day and she goes off on a wander, has a roll in the dust etc then the minute I appear she bolts back to sit on them, but generally she is sitting most of the time. I have been giving her corn next to the nest, should I move it?

Meanwhile, I just manged to candle them. Three felt heavy, dark with what I am sure are veins/similair to photos I found on net of what they shoudl look like. Another one is also dark, with air sac one end but not sure if I could see anything else in it. Then another is also mainly dark but seemed to have fluid inside that seemed to swill around about a litte

(I ddint shake it, jsut noticed I as spun it gentally with the torch) The final one, looked well & truly empty, just like an unfertile egg. So I (through scrunched up eyes) broke it (I was 100% sure it was non viable, but still, was worried what it might be full of) anyway, it was just yolk and very much nothing else in it.

Have I done right?? & do the think the dark egg with fluid swilling around is a dead one?

It-needed-a-home · « **Reply #6 on:** May 04, 2011, 06:14:34 pm »

Only if your 100% sure throw them away otherwise you might just get the one that you never expected

you will learn and get a 6th sense about it when candling if they are dark then they shoud be ok keep an eye on the air sac it should get bigger and it shouldnt a good way to candle which i find good is to do it in a mirror in the complete dark!

its good to hear she is up and about