Raise the Candler!

Building a candler, to inspect eggs is pretty easy, but since my brooding box was multi purpose, I wanted the candeler to double as a base for a brooding light, and also a base for just a regular 75 watt bulb to keep my mama hen warm as she broods those eggs. Whether I'm brooding eggs, chicks, or dealing with a sick chicken, a light source in the enclosure could be beneficial, especially if it doubles as a base for my candler.

A brooding light is a light you put over mother-less chicks you usually get shipped from a hatchery. These bulbs are high watt bulbs and would require a porcelain light socket, so I made sure to buy one of those. Also they can be of considerable weight, so I will make sure to secure my porcelain socket with a piece of plumbers tape, once I find out where I put it. The rest of the supplies were scrap pieces I had laying around the house, a round piece of plywood, an electrical cord with a plug, a coffee can, a 75watt bulb, and a couple of screws and staples.

I punched a hole in the bottom of the coffee can and just sort of made it as round as possible, and placed a wet paper towel over the opening. Then, I pulled the electrical wire through the center hole in the plywood, wired up my socket and mounted it with some temporary screws to keep it from hitting the inside of the coffee can, as it is made out of light cardboard and I don't want it to catch fire. I then stapled the wire to the back of the plywood just to further secure it.

The nice thing about this design is that the coffee can can be easily separated from the light, with the egg still in place and there is less danger of over heating. When it comes to candling an egg, the higher watt the bulb the better, so being able to remove the can or whatever you use to block the excess light is an advantage.

I tested the candler on an unfertilized egg from our flock, and it seems to work pretty good. I may want to make the hole a bit more of a perfect circle to prevent light from leaking out from the can, but I feel as though we will be able to see what we need to when the time comes. Next step is to mount this light in the brooder box in such a way that it can easily be removed for candling purposes.