Читать книгу Duck Eggs Daily - Lisa Steele - Страница 14

While you’re collecting enough to fill your incubator, store them, pointy end down, at a 45-degree angle in a cool location – around 60°F is optimal. Don’t turn on the incubator yet! Rotate the eggs side-to-side several times a day to keep the yolk centered in the white. Hatchability declines each day after an egg is laid. Fertile eggs will stay viable for about a week after being laid. After that, fertility starts to decline, so try not to delay setting the eggs for too long.

“Candling.” “Candle” each egg one by one, whether you are collecting your own or you ordered shipped eggs. Candling is so called because in early days before electricity, the light from a candle flame was used to check for cracks, and later during the incubation period to “see” inside the egg to monitor development. You are checking for hairline cracks. You can use a regular flashlight – no need to use candles any longer! Cup your hand around the beam to shine it through the shell, or buy a commercial egg candler. Discard any cracked egg or seal minor cracks with softened beeswax to prevent bacteria and air from entering the egg through the crack and killing the embryo.

Check for cracks in the shell using the “candling” method.