Early April I ordered some specialty breed chicken eggs, shipped as fertile eggs meant for hatching. I ordered eggs from two different breeders, and ordered three different breeds of birds. I prepared the incubator and got things ready for when the eggs arrived. One of the shipments arrived timely, and in great condition. The other shipment took a couple of days longer than planned, and the box looked like it was pretty roughly handled during shipping. I let the eggs sit for a day to "rest" after being shipped, and then set them in the incubator. 21 days passed. Out of the 21 eggs I incubated, only two hatched. I let the eggs stay in the incubator three extra days in case we had any stragglers, but no other chicks hatched.
I got one Salmon Faverolle (the yellow one in the food dish, and I suspect it's a cockerel) and one Golden Cuckoo Marans (the one on the right -- hopefully a pullet, but I'm not so sure). The little striped chick in the front center is from one of the eggs we hatched from Crazy Brown Hen's nest after she left the nest with her three little chicks.
This is the Golden Cuckoo Marans chick. What a face!
I'm happy with the two chicks, even though I really would have preferred two pullets, but let me tell you...these turned out to be a couple of expensive chicks. None of the eggs from the roughly handled box hatched, and several didn't even start to develop.
So, since I had such a low hatch rate with the specialty breed eggs, I decided that I needed to test out the incubator before attempting to hatch any more specialty breed chicks. To do this, I set a few eggs from the farm girls in the incubator.
The eggs have been in the incubator for two weeks, and they have 1 more week before they hatch. Tonight we candled (with a strong flashlight, not really a candle) some of the eggs to see how things were progressing... what do you know! We've got BABIES!
Candling eggs is something best done in a warm, dark room, and it needs to be done quickly so the eggs aren't out of the warm incubator too long. There was lots of movement, and we could even clearly make out legs and feet in several of the eggs. What fun! And just for you, I took photos!
We did all of this very quickly. We used a small bright flashlight, a shotgun shell shot glass (it's top is narrow!), and a macro lens on my camera which was mounted on my tripod. In normal light, these eggs look like any other egg. It's only by shining the bright light into the shell that you can see what's happening inside!
The flashlight is at the top of the egg. The large white area at the top of each egg is the air cell that stores oxygen for the chick. You can see the blood vessels around the membrane. The large swooping vein really moved around as the chick moved inside the shell.
You can see a leg and foot in this photo. This was a very active chick!
Another very active baby in this egg. The lighter colored spots you see are actually part of the egg's shell. They seem to be where the shell is just a bit thinner than other areas.
This was the first egg we candled. This chick put it's two feet on the side of the membrane several times. I was able to get this photo taken just as it started to pull it's feet back towards the middle of the egg.
Candling eggs is great fun! I only wish we could do it longer! You've got to be very careful not to jostle the egg, and too much time out of the incubator could be deadly to the baby. But what an amazing thing to be able to see the chicks move inside the shell!
I LOVE your blog too...I would never have the chance to see the things I do if it wasn't for you..Hugs from a friendly face in Southern California....
Posted by: Ginny | May 27, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Amazing! Thanks for sharing these wonderful things with us!
Posted by: Donna Wilson | May 27, 2009 at 11:34 AM
These chicks are so adorable and the candling pics are fantastic! I have to ask tho, what do you do with so many chicks/chickens? We have 12 hens, 21 mail order chicks, 1 feed store chick, and 6 newly hatched babies. I am totally overwhelmed with them all! You seem to have far more than that. I'm wondering how you integrate them all?
Posted by: Shelly | May 27, 2009 at 09:27 AM
Wonderful - I've tried candling before and wasn't very successful - love the pictures.
Posted by: Erika M | May 25, 2009 at 01:45 PM
Wow! This is like sonograms for chicks! Very cool. You amaze me with your knowledge of chickens. How many do you have now?
Posted by: Lisa Hjulberg | May 22, 2009 at 09:45 PM
Superb!!
Posted by: Pam (PeeJay) | May 22, 2009 at 03:14 PM
Wow! That is just amazing! However, I am not sure I can eat an egg now!
~Lacey
Posted by: Lacey Stephens | May 22, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Oh Anna, they are so sweet. Thank you for showing us the candling process. I actually could see the legs and I think I even saw a head and beak on the second picture. Every photo I see of yours just makes me want to become a country girl (I really am one at heart). I could just hug every single one of your farm animals.
Posted by: Sandy Hill | May 22, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Opps, I forgot to mention grandfather never made snap decisions either. Since he was in the egg business he was very careful to follow procedure. So talk to the as yet unnamed shipper and they may cut a deal for a special person. Love, Dad
Posted by: DK Wight | May 22, 2009 at 09:58 AM
That is so cool! Thank you for sharing. I love reading about your farm!
Posted by: Nicole | May 22, 2009 at 09:39 AM
Yes, they are lovely, and the great pics too. Since you have a "nack" with words. I'm betting that you have or will in the near future place a "strategic" complaint with the shipper of the very poor crop of eggs? Grandfather Wight would usually get the point across with English "precision" surgicaly worded of course. Love as always, Dad P.S. his replacements usually arrived soon after,hatched
Posted by: DK Wight | May 22, 2009 at 09:25 AM
Thank you for sharing this with us. I've learned so much, and had so many good laughs along the way with all your critters.
Posted by: Diane M | May 22, 2009 at 09:22 AM
WOW! This is the first time I have seen an 'ultrasound' of your babies! Thank you so much for sharing.
Posted by: Ruthy Gray | May 22, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Anna, I enjoy reading your blog and seeing all the antics the animals get into. I also learn something new almost every time I visit. thank you for what you do. Mari
Posted by: Mari Pearson | May 22, 2009 at 08:48 AM
How sad that all those eggs didn't produce chicks. The ones you did get are adorable. I had heard of "candling" but had never seen the process. Cool, very cool!!!! tfs
Posted by: Cindy H. | May 22, 2009 at 08:39 AM
Thank you Anna! I love posts about chickens because I have 5 little Banties that I just adore!
Posted by: Kittekaat | May 22, 2009 at 08:02 AM
Oh, that's so sad that you only got 2 babies out of all of those eggs. Can you hold the carrier responsible? Anyway, these are adorable and it's amazing to see the pics of the candling!
Posted by: Danielle | May 22, 2009 at 06:50 AM
You are so much fun! Thanks for sharing this with everyone. We have hatched ducks, chickens, and quail. Candeling is always "egg-citing" ! :) I bet you won't order from those breeders again :(
Posted by: Carol Dee | May 22, 2009 at 06:49 AM
It's like little egg ultrasounds! So cute. And you got better pics than I did with my real ultrasound. Ha!
Posted by: jenny4wheel | May 22, 2009 at 05:40 AM
Oh what fun to see Anna! God has done an amazing job and i am always in awwwww!!! Now keep those babies warm:)
Posted by: Carla | May 22, 2009 at 05:19 AM
Anna, I LOVE visiting your blog. I always learn something new. Thanks for always sharing with us. I can't wait to show this to my daughter.
Posted by: tmp | May 22, 2009 at 03:11 AM