FINCHforum

Good day all, I am reading about MiaCarter and her "peek of the eggs" you say you can judge by the colour if they are developing?............................... can you tell me what shade colour if any at all?...... I also have 7 eggs and now and then by a slight chance in changing of the gaurd IF I AM SO LUCKY I can peeeeeek, do they appear white ?....... thanks.

I am posting a picture of a hatchling in a nest with other eggs. If you look, you'll see some look opaque white and others are clear at the top and darker at the bottom with a yellow tint. The clearer ones were fertile, but died in the shell (DIS) and there is on white egg that is opaque (can't see through it). That one is fertile and about to hatch. Once the eggs have been incubated for five days, they look a light orange and if you put a light behind the egg, you can see tiny veins throughout the egg if it's fertile. AS they develop the orange gets darker and the egg eventually looks white and opaque because the chick fills up the egg as it grows.

Deborah, great photos to tell the difference.

Unfertilized or newly laid are white and "clear" looking if placed before a bright light.
Fertilized eggs get the pink tinge or grey look as they develop and you can see the embryo developing with veins etc if placed against a bright light.

finchmix22 got it covered really nicely!
Fabulous photos, Deborah! (And what's up with the crazy jelly bean egg? That's a nutty looking one!)

I've got to get some good photos of my own to make up a post on my finch site!

It's really easy to see the difference when you can compare (vs. trying to determine an egg's fertility alone.)

So just to summarize, without any candling (just a bright light), you'll see....
- newly laid eggs can be rather translucent in appearance OR they can have a yellowish tinge (from the yolk.)
- mid way through incubation, they lose their translucency and take on a white "eggshell" appearance. (The same slightly shiny, slightly matte finish of eggshell finish paint.)
- 3/5 way through incubation, they can sometimes take on a slightly pinkish tone. (This is from the blood vessels).
- at the tail end of incubation, they become obviously bluish/grey in color.

Here's a good photo that depicts the yellowish tinge in a new egg. You can see the yolk clearly at the middle of each egg on the left row, while the older infertile eggs on the right look whiter. Those are Ivy's enormous eggs!


Of course, it's not as reliable as candling. You can only tell if the egg was fertile at some point in time with this method; it's impossible to know if it's still alive and growing. And the early stages of development can be difficult to detect, as the vessels are small; once they grow in quantity and size, it impacts the egg's color.
If you're new to candling, I have some good comparative photos here: http://wp.me/p4JWrl-8w

Thanks all 4 the reply, well I hope I have chicks, today is day 10 she sitting on the first of the 7 eggs in the nest. Tuesday I should have the first egg cracking, egg shattering moving experience.......( my family's 2nd attempt) I have had my birds 4 months today, so I think they are about 6 months old in total.