How to Make an Inexpensive Egg Candler

Hatching eggs in an incubator can be fun and rewarding for both adults and children also. Hatching eggs for the farm is a great way to increase your chicken flock and, for children, can be a homeschool or after school educational process.

Knowing which eggs in the incubator are fertile helps to increase the hatch and also allows removal of eggs that may rot in the shell. Candling is the traditional way of checking eggs, and an inexpensive candler is all you need.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Coffee can with lid
• Light bulb fixture with plug in cord
• Jigsaw with metalworking blade
• Light bulb (minimum 60 watt, not CFL)
• Sharp knife
• Duct tape
• Black spray paint

1. Locate a light bulb fixture that still has the electric plug in attached. This can be removed from an old lamp no longer in use, or picked up at a hardware store.

2. Spray the lid of the coffee can with black paint and allow to dry. Once dry, cut a round one inch hole in the center using a sharp knife.

3. Use the jigsaw to cut a hole in the center of the coffee can. The hole should be just large enough to pass the electric plug in of the light fixture through. Thread the cord through the hole and pull the fixture tight to the bottom of the can. Secure the fixture with duct tape both inside and outside the can.

4. Put a light bulb into the socket and plug the cord into a wall socket to make sure the fixture works properly.

5. Place the lid on the can.

6. Hold each egg over the one inch hole in the lid. If the egg is fertile, you should be able to see the developing chick's outline.

Tips & Warnings

• Discard any eggs that show no signs of life as these can cause the incubator to smell.
• Depending on how early you candle your eggs, all you may see is a series of blood vessels inside the egg.
• Eggs candled after the seventh day of incubation are the easiest to determine if they are fertile.
• Never use a plastic coffee can as the heat from the light bulb could cause it to melt.

[toboggan]

on 4/25/2009 A terracotta flower upturned over a light bulb works brilliantly. The light is concentrated through the hole in the bottom.

[MacDonald]

on 2/21/2008 Ahhh....I remember doing something similar to this when I was a kid and we had chickens.