Abstract
Natural parents are not always successful in rearing their young. This occurs not only with the human race, but with all God's creatures.
As aviculturists, we tend tO think captive birds are less than perfect as parents when eggs are not set or chicks are abandoned for no apparent reason. In the wild, however, these incidents happen all too frequently. The little partridge who sits so tight on her eggs throughout rain storms will ignore the "peep" of the still-damp chick, obviously late in hatching out, as she walks away from the nest with a line of babies following behind her. The need to find cover and food for the majority overcomes the claims of any weaklings left behind in the nest.
Birds of prey, too, are not always successful in rearing a full clutch, especially if food is in short supply or if there are several days between hatching of chicks. The strongest chick will always demand what food there is by calling loudest, the smaller chicks therefore being neglected by the parents.
In the aviary many disasters involving both eggs and chicks can be avoided with the help of surrogate parents. Most of the parakeets will accept an extra egg or two if they are added to the hen's clutch in a sensible manner. Old trustees will tolerate the interference, but a less experienced hen must be fooled into taking additional eggs. If she is rudely pushed aside and cold eggs are mixed in among her own there is every chance she will abandon her nest, but if a little thought is exercised she will have no idea the keeper is playing cuckoo!
I consider the best time to introduce eggs or chicks to a nest is early morning when the hen leaves to defecate and take water. Some hens will spend a little time in feeding, especially if their favorite food has been put out; others will return to the nest quickly, demanding food from the male bird. The advantage of adding to the nest in
the early part of the day is that an eye can be kept on the nesting pair to ensure that the hen continues to set her eggs or brood the young, as the case may be. New laid eggs, that is, eggs that have not been set, can be warmed for a few hours or even over night in a hospital cage before they are put in the nest of the sitting surrogate hen. Eggs that have started development need to be kept at about 98.5 °F (36.9 °C).