Candling are the process of using a light source to inspect turkeys eggs while they are incubating. You use candling to determine if a turkey egg is fertile, and you use candling to determine if the developing embryo within the turkey egg is developing correct. Candling is an important process in the incubation of turkey eggs because it allow you to identify any dead turkey eggs.
By identifying the dead turkey eggs, you can remove those dead eggs from the incubator. Removing the dead turkey eggs from the incubator is important to prevent those dead eggs from rotting within an incubator. Candling should begin during the first week of incubation.
How to Candle Turkey Eggs
During the first few days of incubation, turkey eggs will appear clear within the incubator as the embryo has not yet developed within the eggs. Around day four or five of incubation, however, blood vessel will begin to become visible within the eggs. These blood vessels will become a faint web visible from within the egg.
The presence of the blood vessels within the egg indicate that the egg is fertile. The absence of these blood vessels within the eggs indicate that the turkey egg is not fertile. In this case, you should remove the eggs from the incubator to avoid the development of potential contamination within the incubator.
During the incubation period, the turkey egg will change in appearance due to the growth of the embryo. As the embryo develop, the turkey egg will become darker and more opaque. By the middle of the incubation period, the embryo will have grown to fill most of the turkey egg.
Within the egg, there is also an air cell that you should monitor. The air cell is located within the egg and is a pocket of air. This air cell is important in monitoring the humidity within the incubator.
If the air cell is too small, the humidity is too high, and if the air cell is too large, the humidity is too low. You must be able to identify unhealthy turkey eggs. Infertile turkey eggs will remain clear as there is no embryo inside the eggs.
If the turkey eggs are dead, they may show a blood ring. A blood ring appear when the development of the turkey eggs stops. If the turkey eggs are rotten, they may appear cloudy or green, and they may emit odor.
You must be able to identify if the turkey eggs are rotten as one rotten turkey egg can spoil all the other turkey eggs in the incubator. The equipment you use for candling turkey eggs is important for the incubation process to be successful. Use a bright LED light as the eggs can have thick shells making it hard for the light to penetrate the shell.
Perform candling in a dark room to allow the light to pass through the shell of the turkey egg. Use clean hands when candling the turkey eggs to avoid introducing bacteria into the eggs. Use a pencil to mark the turkey eggs to keep track of there orientation.
Incubating turkey eggs take 28 days. During this time, maintain a steady temperature of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Manage the humidity in the incubator throughout the 28 days.
Turn the turkey eggs daily until day 25. After this period, stop turning the turkey eggs. If you candle the turkey eggs too late in the incubation period, you may disturb the embryo as the turkey egg starts to pip its shell.
Maintain a written log of your incubation observations to assist with recognizing patterns in your incubation success.