2006-Jan-7 - Chicken / Egg Q
OK--we've had chickens.....but one (of many! haha) questions I still have ....
What DOES it mean when someone says their chicken eggs are "Candled" ??
Comments
2006-Jan-7 - Candled eggs
Posted by spinninggrandma
It used to be that eggs were candled using real candles (hence the term). What you are doing is checking to see if the egg is fertile and a baby is growing in the egg (kind of like low-tech, cheap ultrasounds).
If you have a broody hen or if you have an incubator and if you are worried that the babies are not growing in that neat little oval package they call home, then you candle to see and throw away the bad / dead eggs.
There are tools out there to buy that you can use. But you can use a strong light, too. Have the room dark, hold the egg to the light - hopefully a strong, direct source - and see if you can see through the egg. If there is anything in there, you should be able to see it. But don't throw away eggs if you don't see anything - check in several days ...
Some people use a tube to hold the egg onto and put the tube on the light bulb .. more direct, easier to use.
I just usually leave them and hope that all is well. My last bactch of eggs (30 guineas) ended up with over 25 hatching ... I just waited several days to make sure the others were not going to hatch and threw them away.
Good luck.
2006-Jan-7 - Candling
Posted by Fern
I have a couple of links in my Poultry section on my blog to show what candling is and how to do it! I hope that helps!
Blessings,
Fern
