Chook Me!

I'm trying to hatch chicken eggs. How do you know if the eggs are still alive and not rotten?

I've been trying to hatch chicken eggs in an incubator for about two weeks. Last week, i left the chickens for the weekend, and when i came back, the light bulb went out. I'm not sure when but my concern is that the eggs might have gotten rotten while i was gone on my weekend trip. Can someone tell me how you can tell if the eggs are rotten or not? I really don't want smelly eggs in my house, but i'm not sure if they're even rotten! HELP!!

Public Comments

1. Hold them up to a light and look inside
2. If you lite went out they may be dead. You have to hold them up to a lite and see. I think you may be able to see if the heart is beating. Have you turned the eggs everyday? Good Luck
3. The term used is candle. Hold a "candle" or flashlight--bright light under the egg and you will see inside the egg. There are many poultry web sites that should give you more information about this process. Candling Eggs.
4. takes aprox 3 weeks if you hold the egg up to a light (called candling ) you can see if fertile the developing chick. hope this helps
5. What you are in need of doing is a term called Candling the eggs. I am including a link that will tell you the proper way to candle the eggs to see if they are forming baby chicks or not. Here is some helpful information: 1. What is candling? Candling is shining a bright light near the egg to determine the egg quality and also embryonic development. 2. When should the eggs be candled? Eggs can be candled anytime after about Day 5 of incubation through Day 17. 3. How many eggs should be candled at a time? Out of 2 dozen eggs in the incubator, probably no more than 5-7 eggs should be candled at one setting. 4. How long should the eggs be out of the incubator? No more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. This is a site telling how to candle a cockatiel egg, but this should also help you with the specifics.... http://www.ehow.com/how_2177065_candle-cockatiel-egg.html Hope this helps you!
6. There have been times when the setting hen left her eggs for hours at a time, and hatched out chicks. By two weeks, the embryo is pretty well developed. Did you leave the heat on in your house, when you left? That would have helped. Chicks hatch at 21 days +, -- one or two days. Give it that long, then hold each egg up to your ear. You can hear the chick moving around inside, and, in some cases, a little bitty 'peep'. And, at 21 days, the egg is usually a lot heavier than a regular egg. By 25 days, it would be safe to gently! crack one open, then all of them. This will not hurt the chick, if you do it VERY gently!
7. many many moons ago we tried 2 hatch eggs too.. i remember we held them up 2 the light 2 see the babies.. we turn the eggs everyday too.. summer time, i was walking by the creek and someone threw a eggs in there.. it had pencil numbers on it.. not a date but thought that would be a great idea 2 keep track of the days the egg lay's there.. being that we are deep into winter, do the hens still lay ?
8. there are lots of picture on the intenet very easy to find lots of info good luk
9. First: You do not know when the light went out. Second: Holding them up to the light will not tell you anything! If there was an embryo chick inside, you could not tell if it was alive or dead. Third: Assume the light went out just before you arrived home, and put them under the light for at least one week BEYOND the hatch time. If they did not hatch out by that one week beyond the time they should have, you can assume your baby chicks have died. Baby chicks require a steady warmth (and must be turned over EVERY DAY in order to hatch. If you are trying to hatch baby chicks, DO NOT leave, and if it is a necessity that you DO leave, have someone come in and turn the eggs, and make sure the light and warmth source are CONSTANT! I have had chickens, and I managed to hatch out a cliff swallow egg when I was a wildlife rehabilitor. Eggs require not only warmth, but enough moisture to keep the egg alive, and the eggshell of the consistency for the chick to break out of it!! If you do not have the consistency to stay at your own home while you have eggs under incubation, AND, IMPORTANTLY, follow through when the little baby chicks need the constant care, warmth, nutritious food and water, then, you need to think long and hard about EVER doing this again, until you can responsibly care for this little embryonic life! Sorry if I seem harsh, but caring for animals requires a lot of responsibility, dedication, and consistency. If you are prone to go off on a weekend junket at a moment's notice, abandon any ideas of nurturing embryonic or little baby ANYTHING.