Candling pigeon eggs

Has anyone tried Candling pigeon eggs?

For those of you who don't know what Candling is:- It is when you shine a light (a Torch is very good for this) through an egg. You put the torch right up to the egg and turn the torch on. This will illuminate the egg and you can see what is going on inside.

We used to do this regularly with our 'Special Breed' chucks eggs, to see how they were developing. You can also see if the egg is
infertile and therefore not developing.

In the case of pigeons - I would think it would be better if one knew if the eggs were not going to hatch, days before their due date.

Can it be done with pigeon eggs? I don't see why not. Does anyone have experience of Candling pigeon eggs?

Thanks
Phil (blueskylofts)

I always do it, simple enough to just hold it to a light at around 8 days you can see the development easily.

yes works a treat on pigeon eggs phil

oldstrain wrote:

yes works a treat on pigeon eggs phil

Thanks both - good to know.

Phil

never heard of it or tried it, but sounds a good idea....

I used to do it to the foreign finches I used to breed, some of the tiniest eggs ever, so long as your hands are clean, dirty hands carry bugs that will penetrate the shell and kill the embryo

Lofty wrote:

I used to do it to the foreign finches I used to breed, some of the tiniest eggs ever, so long as your hands are clean, dirty hands carry bugs that will penetrate the shell and kill the embryo

handy to know these things lofty, im forever washing my hands during the day because of touching pigeon related items etc......cant be too careful.

When you think about it David, there's everything that passes through the shell, dirty hands carry all sorts of bugs and nasties, stands to reason these can also be passed through the shell. I bred and showed foreign finches for years and years, I conducted a little experiment, nothing scientific, just for my own curiosity, same pair was used every time so I knew they were a fertile pair, they lay any thing from 6 to 8 eggs per clutch, once all the eggs were layed, I made a point of doing all the cleaning around the shed then carefully picked 4 eggs up with a spoon , handled them quite a bit and put them back, the other eggs were picked up with a spoon and placed under another pair, not touched by hand at all, the eggs I handled with dirty hands were dead in shell, the others under the other pair hatched no problems. No point in doing it as a one off so I did the same on the next clutch, same happened, maybe coincidence, so did the exact same thing the following season and the same happened, so I just thought it must be the bugs and whatever being transferred from the hands. Anyone else have any thought on it.

Lofty that is an interesting read mate

yes it is, very interesting indeed.....makes you wonder why some fanciers have nothing but illness and poor hatching.

Don Webb wrote:

Lofty that is an interesting read mate

Oh so true Don I suspect it got a few here thinking etc with what Lofty posted. Well done to the man for his effort .

I wonder if touching an egg when I have a boiled or fried one has any effect on me........

Lofty wrote:

When you think about it David, there's everything that passes through the shell, dirty hands carry all sorts of bugs and nasties, stands to reason these can also be passed through the shell. I bred and showed foreign finches for years and years, I conducted a little experiment, nothing scientific, just for my own curiosity, same pair was used every time so I knew they were a fertile pair, they lay any thing from 6 to 8 eggs per clutch, once all the eggs were layed, I made a point of doing all the cleaning around the shed then carefully picked 4 eggs up with a spoon , handled them quite a bit and put them back, the other eggs were picked up with a spoon and placed under another pair, not touched by hand at all, the eggs I handled with dirty hands were dead in shell, the others under the other pair hatched no problems. No point in doing it as a one off so I did the same on the next clutch, same happened, maybe coincidence, so did the exact same thing the following season and the same happened, so I just thought it must be the bugs and whatever being transferred from the hands. Anyone else have any thought on it.

I thought salmonella was the only disease to be transmitted to the egg from the parents not really sure about dirt on human hands or droppings but a very good point roy

Just an observation Daz, may be something and nothing, just a little experiment I did some years ago, mentioned it to some of the other guys showing birds and they were going to try the same experiment, but finished with the finches before I got to find out, but I convinced myself that the crap we carry around on our hands can be transferred to the embryos through the shell.

certainly food for thought roy atb m8

David wrote:

I wonder if touching an egg when I have a boiled or fried one has any effect on me........

Of course it had an effect on you, you race pigeons as a hobby, so must have been a bug you picked up

I think I was dropped on my head as a baby lofty.......

David wrote:

I think I was dropped on my head as a baby lofty.......

With 25,278 posts here etc David I could believe that unfortunate situation occurring above .