Broody Watch #9 – Candling

I have never candled my hens eggs before, preferring a hands-off natural approach. I’d rather be surprised by how many come out in Day 21.

But since we ordered and paid money for Abby’s Special Eggs, and since we’ve so much badness going on with this hatch, I broke down and bought one last week.

Little Dude and I candled the eggs the day I bought the candler and I marked 4 eggs as ? I couldn’t tell if any of those had something going on with them.

Two were destroyed by Stacey in her efforts to find the perfect nest. Their remains appeared to indicate they were not viable. It’s better they are gone. Better chances for the rest to be safe.

Last night, we candled again. I removed one of the other ?-ed eggs. It shows no growth. The other is a mystery. It’s totally dark with a sliver of light at the bottom. The sliver of light got bigger from last week to this week. Don’t know what that means. I left it under her, until such a time as I learn what that means.

The remaining 8 eggs all have clear signs of life, movement and growth. I’m excited! Little Dude and I got to see baby chicks moving around!