Candleing

Our Marans eggs have been in the incubator for 9 days now.  Today we candled them.  This is an egg Nosey Rosy laid this morning being candled.

(our Candler by the way is a mug with a small led flashlight and a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in it.)

As you can see the egg is clear.  There are no dark spots, just as it should be for a freshly laid egg.

Here is one that has been in the incubator for 9 days.

YEAH!!!  It is mostly dark!!!  That means something is happening!!!  Of course since the eggs are so dark and my candler is not the most efficient we can't tell exactly what is going on.  In white eggs you can see veins and even heart beats!!  We made a chart showing where each eggs was dark and when we check them in another 9 days we will see if anything has changed.  The amazing thing is that ALL 13 showed some signs of growth.  There are two that may not have grown and we will keep an eye on them for signs of spoilage.  I"m so excited!!!  More baby chicks in .....12 Days!!!