I give up!

[duggat]

First attempt at incubating. 12 potential fawn runners. 1 basic incubator.
I haven't a clue what I am doing.
Candling every day since day 7. Makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Maybe its my eyesight failing in my later years as I see nothing of all the descriptions, pictures of stages I should be seeing.
Day 12. 4 have dark blobs that fill one side of the eggs. The rest still look pale; basically just a yolk in a shell.
One I disposed of last night as I perceived it had a blood ring. I am now wondering whether I have killed a lovely duckling.
Why can I not see the wondrous things going on that others can?
Am I loving caring for bad eggs or is there something I am not seeing?
Should I give up now? :? :? :? :?

 

[Red Face]

Are you following all of the basic procedures?

Temperature at a steady 37.4 degrees
Humidity at least 50%
Turn 3 times a day

Maybe your eggs are duds or damaged in transport?
I bought 6 off eBay last months and they've all hatched! Do you want the sellers name?

 

[duggat]

Temperature good. Humidity okay. Turning 4 times a day.

Bought mine from ebay and thought with 12 I may get a fair success rate. I just don't know what I am looking for.

 

[Chuck]

First thing - have you got a really good, powerful light to candle them with. It's no good messing with anything less. No need to turn them four times a day I would have thought and if you have to turn them manually you lose too much heat & humidity every time. Like everything else, some people dive in and it works, for the rest of us it takes longer to learn !

 

[BasilF]

I don't think you should candle every day as you will dry them out by opening the incubator too often. Candle at 7 days and check they have blood vessels showing then leave them alone except for turning.

 

[Marigold]

I agree about the candling. It serves no purpose except to satisfy your own curiosity, and it won't even do that if for whatever reason you can't see what you're looking for. Every time you open the incubator and remove the eggs, you lose heat and humidity and the levels take quite a while to return to normal. Candling every day is certainly not good for the eggs, and it definitely won't improve the success of the hatch, so why do it?