Question First time incubating

[kenya]

I borrowed a little giant from my nephew, they had no luck with it and I hatched only 3. Useless as far as I'm concerned, I think the whole room has to be just right for them .My husband made me an incubator, works like a charm. I also have an R-com, that is basically plug it in and watch them hatch. R-com's are expensive though, the hand made one was not but works great, but I have to turn the eggs in it.

[Ontario Chick]

QR_BBPOST No I haven't cracked any, but I was told to candle and if you saw the dark circle that is was fertile.

We have cracked eggs after 10 days if no progress. Some look like a fresh cracked egg. The others that have increased in size have a black mass and a pungent odour.

Dark circle usually means the embryo has died.
fresh cracked egg means the egg wasn't fertile.
Black mass, the egg has spoiled because of a bacterial growth.
Here are some incubation basics, there are more at the top of the Incubating and hatching section.
http://www.poultryhub.org/physiology/incubation/