Candling eggs

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Just candled the eggs we put under our broody. We're on day 8/9. Six of the 7 eggs look like this with a solid mass to the top or to the side. Never done this before so not sure what I'm looking for; something is clearly happening in there though. Any experts around to tell me if we're expecting 6 chicks in a couple of weeks?

This one shows a larger mass

The mass looks like the yolk to me.
At 8/9 days the chick will still be very small and you will be looking for blood vessels.

This link shows what you would expect to see when candling.
Good luck :)

And actually, thinking about it, not sure if the yolk would show as dark as that. Can you see blood vessels around the inside of the shell?

That link is very useful thank you. The masses were too big and solid for the yolk I think. This is a picture of one of the eggs in our fridge which we looked at in the same way for comparison. We couldn't see any blood vessels in the broody eggs (not sure our technique of an iPhone torch and a curled hand is necessarily the best but our pictures look more like the day 10 ones in the link.

You will see blood vessels if they are fertile. I mark those that don't have them with a ? - last batch 4 ? marked eggs hatched. Previous times I would have thrown away murdered the eggs.

It can be useful to mark the egg with a X on one side and a O on the other, to help with turning.

Blood vessels at this stage are the main thing to see, the developing chick can be difficult to see, especially with darker eggs.
Was there any fertility testing done with eggs from the same chickens? This would probably only happen if you bought hatching eggs.
If these are your own eggs, if you break a couple of eggs that you have in the fridge and look for a whitish mark on the yolk - if it's a dot, they're infertile, if a donut shape, fertile.
At this stage if they are infertile you could still get some hatching eggs and swap them one at a time.

Can you see any veins in any of them?

I'm going to check again this evening with a brighter light. Eggs were from our neighbour as he has a cockerel. They've had partially developed chicks from a failed attempt at hatching they made last summer so we know he's doing his job.

All the eggs are quite pale in colour so in theory should be easy to see through them.

Still can't see anything that looks like veins . Shall look again in a few days and see if anything has changed.

Reporting in again. Candled six of them again this evening, four are now pretty solid inside and all I can see is the air sac and some small space the other end. One looks way behind with not much change from last week, and one was fairly solid-looking but no visible air sac. The other egg was so far tucked under her that I left it there and didn't candle it. I think I'm going to work on the theory that at least four may hatch next weekend so then if they do then at least I am prepared.

So.. I have installed an extra coop & run inside the main run and will move broody and eggs tomorrow night. I need to chick proof the run just in case and get some supplies in. I'd rather be disappointed that none hatch than be caught unprepared that they do!

Won't be long now till you get some chicks, are you all ready for them?

Almost. I have food and chick sized feeder & drinker. I have moved mum into a separate run which sits inside the main run so they are separate but can be seen by the rest of the flock. I still need to chick-proof the house and run as I think at the moment there are too many places for chicks to get stuck or fall. Does anyone know how big they need to be before they can negotiate a ladder up/ down from the house? I'm worried they will fall!

I shall be very disappointed if none pop out next weekend! And if they do I'm going to be very neurotic and be checking up constantly.

Bet you are excited, any time now!!

Just been down to check on her and heard cheeping! Didn't want to disturb her as it's dark so will check in the morning. Beyond excited!

Two so far! Very cute.

Congratulations, I did this last year and got one (cockerel). How many did you get in the end? The photo is very cute.

Checked again this afternoon and we now have five! I'm now worrying about how they are going to get down the ladder when they're big enough to start roaming. At the moment they can't get out of the nest box & there are chick crumbs and water in there with them but they're going to be more mobile pretty soon.

Paranoid parent here

Just updating with another photo . All chicks doing well. We bought a little hutch type run as a temporary home until they are big enough to go into the higher house and manage the ladder. They are going to need more space soon though as they are adventurous little things and mum is itching to stretch her legs a bit more. She's doing a great job and is ferocious in looking after them. I am not allowed to get close as she will attack me with beak and feet given a chance! I have upmost respect for her parenting skills.