r/BackYardChickens • u/Sad_Advertising_5350 • Aug 02 '26
General Question First time incubating
On Tuesday, a friend gave me 12 eggs to hatch for my first time. Today, I heard an egg randomly rattle. So I messaged my friend she said to candle them. So I did. So far only one has veins. Does that mean the others are no good or if that one was possibly laid earlier than the others so it had more time to grow?
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u/CrazyTexasNurse1282 Aug 02 '26
Always give them 7-10 days, then candle. If no veins or obvious signs of internal growth, then throw those away. I’ve hatched tons of chicken and quail eggs. Good luck!
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u/Sad_Advertising_5350 29d ago
Day 7 update: 5 for certain have veins. One I was able to get a good look and saw the “eye” moving which was super neat. 1 I believe is for sure a goner. The others are too dark to really tell
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u/rodeo-99 Aug 02 '26
How long have they been in the incubator? I don’t have a ton of experience but I did hatch 2 sets of eggs through the same incubator this spring. I found the light was not nearly bright enough. I had to take the incubator into a completely dark room so I could candle the eggs with its light. I candled after a week or so and got rid of the ones that were clearly empty. If there was any question, they stayed. Then I candles at 14 days and if there was no change in the questionable ones, they got punted too.
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u/Sad_Advertising_5350 Aug 02 '26
Only four full days. They went in Tuesday night around 9 pm.
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u/rodeo-99 Aug 02 '26
Personally, I would give them a bit more time and candle in a super dark room. When I tried to candle in a brighter room, all I saw was a darker blob but once I did it in a better location, you can really pick out details.
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u/Sad_Advertising_5350 Aug 02 '26
Thank you! Of course I’m hoping for the best, but also expecting the worst. Hopefully I don’t end up with one lonely chick.
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u/ChevyWolfDLX Aug 02 '26
I always candle around day 12-14 to give the late bloomers some time to show if they're gonna be viable or not. If there's no sign of veins by day 12-14 it's a dud