A man was startled after he cracked open an egg to find a chicken embryo inside with a beating heart, which he nearly ate by mistake.

The resident in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, cracked a farm-raised egg into a bowl, intending to eat it for breakfast on Saturday, July 13.

But inside the yolk, he found a tiny heart beating vigorously. The discovery startled him, and he said that he could not bear to eat the egg after finding the foetal heartbeat.

In order to examine the egg more closely and improve its chances of hatching, the man placed it inside a bowl, covered it with plastic, and poked small holes in it.

He said that eggs should be kept in the refrigerator and properly stored to avoid spoilage.