Breeding problems: proposed answers to awkward questions

RECENTLY I have had many a phone call or text or other form of contact asking some very searching questions. Fanciers want to know why their softbill breeding season has gone wrong this year. Questions such as:

■ Why am I getting one chick out of three or four eggs?

■ Why am I losing chicks on hatching?

■ Why am I losing chicks days from fledging?

■ Why am I getting clear eggs?

■ Why am I getting dead in shell?

■ Why am I getting a single egg laid and no more?

■ Why am I getting a built nest and no eggs?

■ Why, after