CANDLING PHEASANT EGGS

[MATTNHOLLY]

I have a question regarding candling pheasant eggs. I candled them last night at 7 days, but the eggs shells are too dark to see much of anything in the way of blood vessels an such. I do see an air pocket and part of the egg is dark inside, but I havent seen any pictures of pheasant eggs being candled, only chicken eggs with lighter shells. Could anyone help me out and give me an idea of what I am supposed to see??

[Reeves]

Just candled mine an hour ago, it is day 7. I can see the eye, blood veins etc. They are Yellow Golden & Amherst, so the shells are an off white/cream color. Ring-Necks may be a little harder to see through as they are darker, but you should be able to see if they are growing. What species do you have ? I was also given 3 mistery eggs that are quite dark in color & I could see they were not growing.
You may have duds.

[MATTNHOLLY]

I sure hope they aren't duds, I've got over 200 of them! I'll try it again tonight. Maybe I had too much light in the room?? Your darker colored eggs are quite possibly ringnecks. That is what I have. They are kind of a more muddy color. Anyways, wish me luck!!! And if you have any Yellow Golden or Amherst eggs for sale, I might buy some. Thanks for the help!

[MATTNHOLLY]

Also Reeves, I forgot to ask...was part of the egg starting to get darker when you candled yours? Or was it mostly clear with eyes, blood vessels and such cleary visable?

[Reeves]

The three mistery eggs I had were not Ring-Neck. Way too big.

The room where you candle should be dark - no lights at all. Use a mini mag on tight focus & you will likely see the forming chick moving, the eye & blood vessils clearly visable. You may want to give it a couple more days & look again. If in doubt still, break one open. Sounds like you have lots. Let me know what you find/see. I'll be away from the early AM of the 25th for weeks or months at a time. Working in the bush this summer.
Won't be shipping to the States. Try this place for any birds you may want. Scroll down to message board and click on it.

http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/index.html

[duck nutt]

the room needs to be 'pitch black'  and if you still can't see thru the eggs, maybe a more powerful light.....i use a toilet paper roll with a piece of black paper over it with a hole the size of a quarter cut out of it..(nickle for quail)
you also need to make sure no light escapes around the tube..the only light you should be able to see should be coming outta the hole at the end...i candle pharoah quail eggs all the time..they're dark with darker spots.....