chicken ultrasound

The other day I discovered broody Blackie not only sitting atop the dozen fertilized eggs I gave her, but at least a dozen more eggs.  The other chickens have been laying eggs on top of her.  Though she has a million other places to lay her egg, today I found the other Blackie hen squeezed into the nesting box to lay an egg right on top of Blackie and her eggs. Crazy birds.

So how do you tell which eggs are Blackie's chicks and which ones are non-fertile?  Egg "candling".  If you hold an egg very close to the light of a flashlight at the right angle, you can see it's contents.  I inspected each egg and determined about a dozen to be edible, whereas the other half were completely opaque - which means they held a baby chick.  There is another week or so to go before they hatch, but I hope removing the plain eggs will make her a little more comfortable.  Nature is so weird.