Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[chuckmum6]

I have just had a go at candling my six eggs from under my broody, who has had them for a week. After a bit of fiddling I have rigged up a bright lamp and a card funnel which seemed to shine through, I had all the curtains drawn and it was dark. I could see dark shadows in four of the eggs these weren't distinct black blobs just a large shape on one side taking up about half the egg. The other two larger eggs didn't seem to have anything apart from the obvious air pocket as in all. It might be the light wasn't bright enough or that I was doing it wrong! Can anyone advise me on what I might have please my children are really keen to know as this is their project. I thought it would be obvious and its not!

[Griffin]

It might help first if you candle one of your own hens unfertile eggs. You'll then see what an unfertile egg looks like and you can then compare the others. If you still can't tell it's probably because it's not dark enough. It really needs to be very very dark to see at this early stage. You should see what looks like a spider web of veins with a tiny blob in the middle. Some eggs are easier to see into than others. My Brahmas are sat on Marans eggs at the moment and they're so dark I can't see a thing. It'll be a complete surprise next week when/if they hatch

 

I've mastered the art of candling eggs under my t-shirt & jumper

[Egluntyne]

Updated **here**