baby bird care/

Question
i have a pair of lovebirds who have sucessfully bred(5 eggs) 3 have hatched so far. i have several questions -- should i be changing the nesting material,can i handle the babies when they are old enough without hand raising/feeding them, will the hen continue to care for them if i touch them and or remove them briefly from the nest and finally the hens' head is dirty with food, i guess from feeding should i be concerned. i place h20 in a bowl frequently in the bottom of the cage. any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated. my pair of lovebirds are bright yellow with a turquoise/green tail and peach faces they are approx 6months old,they eat a diet of "exact" bird food it resembles "fruity peebles" and they have a large cage.they were purchased from a local pet store. thank you  srandolph in richmond,va

Answer
I apologise for somewhat short answers - am about to leave on a trip, sorry also for the delay, I have not been able to access "AllExperts" during the weekend for some reason their site seemed to be down.

1. Don't change the nest material.

2. You can handle the babies from about 14 days (when the eyes start to open)without problems.

3. I have no idea what h20 is. If you mean water, they should have water to bathe in at all times.

4. The parents are very young to start breeding.

4. I dont know that bird food. Add a good variety of seeds, fruit and vegetables to their diet so that the young do not become too fussy in this regard.