Post by avinet on Nov 10, 2008 23:46:07 GMT 10
One of the frequent questions I get asked is how to tell if an egg is fertile by candling the egg. So I've taken the opportunity of Jello and Sasha (house lutino ringnecks) having eggs currently to take a few photos to hopefully give an idea how to interpret what you might see.
They have 8 eggs, a record for Jello who normally has 6 eggs. Normally she has 100% fertility but 8 was obviously a bit beyond Sasha's capabilities, and only 5 are fertile. However it does present an opportunity to photo eggs at various stages of development. from a clear egg up to one around 14 days old.
The photos aren't especially good - I couldn't use a flash of course since that would flood the light from the candler, so had to rely entirely on the limited light from the candler for illumination. However they give the idea of what to see.
cheers,
Mike
Firstly a clear egg - a nice golden colour with a shadow from the yolk. The appearance of this egg is identical if freshly laid and fertile or weeks old and not fertile.
An egg probably around 5 or 6 days old - the red colour is due to the development of a network of blood vessels going out from the embryo into the white of the egg to obtain nutrients. This reddening of the egg is the first sign of a fertile egg.
By around 10 days the egg is getting darker with the candler as the embryo develops and occupies more space in the egg
Probably around 14 days old and a bit darker still. This is the oldest of the fertile eggs and will be the first to hatch in around 8 or 9 days time.
They have 8 eggs, a record for Jello who normally has 6 eggs. Normally she has 100% fertility but 8 was obviously a bit beyond Sasha's capabilities, and only 5 are fertile. However it does present an opportunity to photo eggs at various stages of development. from a clear egg up to one around 14 days old.
The photos aren't especially good - I couldn't use a flash of course since that would flood the light from the candler, so had to rely entirely on the limited light from the candler for illumination. However they give the idea of what to see.
cheers,
Mike
Firstly a clear egg - a nice golden colour with a shadow from the yolk. The appearance of this egg is identical if freshly laid and fertile or weeks old and not fertile.
An egg probably around 5 or 6 days old - the red colour is due to the development of a network of blood vessels going out from the embryo into the white of the egg to obtain nutrients. This reddening of the egg is the first sign of a fertile egg.
By around 10 days the egg is getting darker with the candler as the embryo develops and occupies more space in the egg
Probably around 14 days old and a bit darker still. This is the oldest of the fertile eggs and will be the first to hatch in around 8 or 9 days time.
