Hatch date &
candling timeline
Enter the day the egg was laid and the species. Every date that follows is calculated from that species' real incubation period.
Incubation figures come from the AviLedger species catalogue. Add a day or two either side of the expected hatch: eggs are not clocks.
Candling, in practice
When to look
The first candling window above is roughly a third of the way through incubation, which is the earliest a fertile egg reads clearly. Earlier than that and you will throw away good eggs.
What fertile looks like
A spider of fine red vessels radiating from a dark centre. Clear means infertile. A ring of blood without a centre means it started and died.
Handle less
Two candlings per clutch is plenty: one at the window above, one a few days before hatch. Every nest inspection risks a hen abandoning.
Staggered laying
Hens lay every other day and often start sitting on the second or third egg, so a clutch hatches over several days. Date each egg individually rather than the clutch as a whole.
Let these dates arrive as reminders instead of sums.
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