Handling and marking eggs does disturb some hens which may lead to chilling of eggs, and if done frequently can lead to eggs drying out which can result in chicks dying or not being able to hatch, or the hatching of weak chicks. Some fanciers like to increase the humidity in nest boxes but in most circumstances there is no need to do this. However if it is done, one should use moistened peat or sponges under the bedding or concave. This has to take place as eggs have to lose a fixed amount of water during incubation, if too little or too much is lost, problems result. Sticking to these do's and don'ts will not solve all the breeding difficulties with budgerigars, but will help in many cases.
Experience indicates that if they are followed breeding results generally improve.
The major difficulty they will not solve, is where abnormal eggs are laid, shell abnormalities at the microscopic level, not seen with the naked eye, are a problem awaiting a solution. It will also not improve the quality of the chicks, as this is largely genetically determined. Female budgerigars have the potential to produce several hundred eggs during their lifetime and all of these can, potentially, produce chicks - if they all did, that would pose a problem of what to do with all the chicks. We are a long way from this yet but a few limited steps in that direction would only be of advantage to the fancier. All rights reserved.