Erm... unexpected chicks might be coming - help!

[Lemon-Drop]

Forgot to post candling photos, I'll get some tonight. (I'll probably start mostly posting on this thread.)

 

[Anime2lover]

So, I forgot about the eggs in the coop for a couple days, and went to collect them today. We have a rooster, and one of the hens went broody without me knowing. I cracked open an egg that she was sitting on to make sure it wasn't fertile, but what I saw was red veins and something pulsating in the middle. I feel really awful about it.

I'mm assuming that means the eggs are fertile and developing, which might mean chicks in the next couple weeks.

So any tips? I'm planning to just let her sit on them and see what happens.

If you need to, it is possible to safely move a nest and hen if you take her original nesting material and move them as discreetly as possible in total darkness. I have successfully moved three out of four broody mommas that way. Sometimes it is safer for newly hatched chicks to be separated for a few weeks.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I'm going to post the pictures from egg candling on my other thread. This is the thread.