Candling is the process of shining a light through a lovebird egg to see the development of an embryo inside the egg. Candling is useful in that it allow individuals to see if there is an embryo developing inside of the egg without having to crack the egg shell. Through candling, individuals can determine if an egg is fertile or if it is infertile.
Any infertile egg should be removed from the nest so that the hen doesnt waste its energy attempting to produce a chick from that infertile egg. Breeding lovebirds require that warmth and moisture is provided to the eggs. Additionally, the nest box should be quiet and located high within the cage.
How to Candle Lovebird Eggs
After the hen lays the egg, there is no development of the embryo within the first two days. However, on the fifth day of incubation, red lines will begin to appear within the egg due to the development of blood vessels surrounding the embryo. If there are no red lines after the fifth day, the egg is likely infertile; in this case, the breeder should remove the egg after the seventh day.
On the seventh day after laying, the embryo will develop into a dark spot within the egg. On the tenth day, a network of vessels will appear within the egg, covering approximately half of the egg. These stages allow individuals to ensure that the embryo is normaly developing within the egg.
Any egg that remains clear or that only contains a ring of blood vessels is likely suffering from a stopped embryo; in this case, the egg should be removed to allow the hen to focus on the other eggs in her clutch. During the second week, the embryo occupy the majority of the eggshell. Additionally, the air cell that exists at the blunt portion of the eggshell will enlarge to provide the embryo with additional room to which to tuck its head.
Many breeders perform candling again around the fourteenth day of incubation. However, many breeders will leave the eggs in the nest box alone until the lockdown period. During this period, individuals should not constantly handle the eggs; the chick may get chilled or the shell of the egg may crack during constant handling of the eggs.
During the lockdown period, which occurs on the eighteenth day of incubation, the humidity within the nest box should be increased and the breeder should not turn the eggs. Within the eggshell, the embryo will puncture the membrane that surrounds the embryo allowing the embryo to breathe in the air cell within the shell. Additionally, the embryo will begin to move within the shell.
A small pip will appear on the shell of the egg. After the first pip forms, it takes twelve to twenty-four hours for the embryo to cut a circle around the shell and push itself free from the shell. Individuals should not intervene in this process unless the egg presents no progress after forty-eight hours after the first pip.
Should individuals choose to intervene, they must do so slowly to avoid causing resistance from the embryo that is attempting to hatch. After the chick has hatched from the egg, the chick will be wet and pink in color. The eyes of the chick will remain closed for the first week after hatching and a down coat will appear on the chick.
After two weeks, the eyes of the chick will open and the pin feathers will push through the down coat. At four weeks of age, the chick will begin to seek out solid food and test its wings within the nest box. At six to eight weeks of age, the young lovebird will be fully feathered and eating food independent from it’s mother.
Candling allows individuals to decide when to relax the incubation process and to remove eggs from the hen. Additionally, candling allows individuals to decide when to prepare for the hatch of the eggs. Thus, candling transforms what may be a more difficult project for the breeder to perform into a manageable project for that individual.