Martin Deckers: from egg to chick

I'm just back from a presentation by Martin Beckers entitled from egg to chick. This man knows his eggs and what makes them hatch. He had three tables filled with material to support his presentation. He had some chicken eggs to demonstrate anomalies and how normal incubations works.

Martin is now getting some excellent show result this season: best opposite sex at the 6th Open International NGC-DBS Clubshows 2007.

Air quality

Martin has a particular, but perfectly justifyable, view on air quality. He keeps his aviary air tight. "Don't open the windows", he says. To clear the air he uses a ionizer and an air purification machine with titanium containing filters. Next to that he has an air moisteriser controled by a hygrometer to have a constant air humidity. A constant air humidity at the right level is essential for incubation and hatching. An open window ruins the perfect air humidity.

Hygiene

Martin has a vacuum cleaner outside his aviary with a pipe leading in to hoover his aviary. He also removes the dust from his breeding cages. He also cleanes his breeding cages and nest boxes. Nobody is allowed in his aviary during breeding season. During this period he will not buy birds because of the risk of infection. He is also very carefull at visiting other breeders. He changes shoes and even clothes before entering his aviary.

Checking eggs

Marin says never to touch eggs with your hands. The shell is porous and anything that is on your hands and gets on to the egg will travel in. Use a special tweaser for that. He handles eggs as little as necesarry. The only save way to mark your eggs is with a soft pencil at the flat side of the egg.

Conclusion

For one Martin is passionate about the hobby. He does everything to get that extra chick. The more you breed, the more quality you breed (and also rubbish). Martin spends about 5 hours a day during the breeding season with his birds. This devotion and perfectly thought out planning works miracles for him.
Another remarkable thing he said was that 80% of budgerigar lovers don't recognise a good or bad bird. He himself spent year learning how to breed and learning to judge the birds before he felt he was confident to get out into the world. The result is that now he's sky rocketing throught the different exhibition statuses: promoting every year with ease.

A final tip from Martin: clip the toe nails of hen and cock when you pair them up to avoid pierced eggs.