Checking eggs for fertility.

[Nooti]

There have been one or two references on the board about candling eggs for fertility, and most say hold the egg up to a light bulb at about 10 days to see if it is clear or dark.
However, there is a very easy method of checking from about 56 -72 hours. A slender pencil torch is required, the end where the bulb is should really be no bigger than the egg and they are easy to find on the market.
The best method is if you have a walk-in cupboard which has no window, but any dark corner will do, with the lights off and you facing into the corner. Make a circle with index finger and thumb round the egg and put the torch right up to the egg underneath.
The light will shine right through the egg and if it is fertile you should see at that stage a small red blob. That is the embryo- and you will see a network of blood vessels radiating out from it. When you get experienced at this you will be able to determine the tiny heart, which will be beating away fast and furiously!
As the embryo develops you will see it moving more and more, till eventually it will be whizzing around the inside the egg like a contestant at the Grand Prix!
Soon after this, they become too big to do much activity. Then they officially become a foetus. As you are checking chick is still alive you will not see much except movement but will often be rewarded with an eye, or a beak, or a foot which suddenly comes into view right in front of your eyes before swimming away into the unknown depths again. By 2-3 days before hatching you should not be able to see through the egg except at the airspace. If one is technical enough, the size of the airspace will help you judge whether the chick is alive, healthy, and there has been enough humidity during incubation..... but we will not go down that road. 48 hours before hatching, you should not be able to see through the air-space. This means the chick has broken through to the air-space and is breathing air. This is the critical time because you have no real way of telling the chick is still alive until you hear it knocking inside the shell. Once the oxygen level in the air-space starts to diminish and carbon dioxide levels start to build up, this causes the chick to jerk violently, and chip the egg! Then you can monitor developments again. The end result should be a healthy fully formed chick ready to take on the outside world.
Helen

[queenbee]

THANK YOU !!!

[WhiteWingsCa]

wow...what a cool description!

We "candle" about 4-5 day old eggs. I like to use a flashlight that has sort of a "cup" around the lens...I can set the egg right on it, and not worry about squishing it or having it fall off! LOL

[bigbird]

Helen,
Thanks for this very informative and interesting post. This is a great improvement over my earlier knowledge.
Regards,
Carl

[Pigeonrh]

Hi,
I wait until they are about 5-7 days old and hold them up to the lights in the loft, if there's veins, there fertile..

Later,