Humidity for incubation was 45 to 55 hatch was 70. Incubator is farm innovators pro series model 4250. No idea about parent, like you say. I tried to hatch my own eggs last year. My humidity was too high I think and not enough ventilation. My goodness this is harder than I thought.
Yes, incubation is harder than it looks. There are so many variables, and so many things that CAN go wrong.
1. Before you plug your bator in the next time, I urge you to read ALL of "Hatching Eggs 101" in the learning center. No matter how often I incubate (home made bator(s) I do a review EVERY TIME.
2. Calibrate your thermometers and hygrometer. I use a minimum of 3 thermometers, and calibrate them to 100* using a good medical grade digital or mercury thermometer in a glass of water. IMO, calibrating to 32* is useless. If the thermometer is accurate at 32*, that's not going to tell you how accurate it is at 100*!!! I calibrate EVERY SEASON, even when using the same thermometers.
3. KNOW YOUR BATOR! Even forced air bators are apt to have warm or cool spots. Spend a week getting to know where those spots are. You can either rotate your eggs through those spots, or avoid them. Your decision in this regard depends whether those warm spots vary by more than a degree from your target. Put heat sinks in your bator to help stabalize temps.
4. If you use an electric turner, realize that there will be a warm spot near the turner motor.
5. Do dry incubation. I keep my humidity around 30 % during the first 17 days. Then increase to 65 - 70%.
6. CANDLE THOSE EGGS! Candling is a valuable tool. It tells you if your embryo's are developing at the right speed. It tells you if they are dying. It tells you if the air cell size is on target. If air cell size is off target, you use that information to adjust your humidity to correct the air cell size. Based on air cell size and location, I can make the decision re: hatching upright in cartons or laying eggs down on sides for hatch.
7. Do frequent temp and humidity checks, and keep written records of those checks. Even with a thermostat, I can detect developing trends, and correct them before they become lethal. I find that there can be a temp spike around day 7 and day 14 IMO due to increased embryo metabolism.
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Start with quality eggs: If you are new to incubation, and don't have fertile eggs from your own flock, start with some mutt eggs from a local farm. Use clean, well shaped eggs. Candle before set, and remove any eggs that are overly porous. Best if eggs are less than 7 - 10 days old. Don't refrigerate before incubation. Or if they have been chilled, bring them to room temp before setting them.
If using eggs from your own flock, condition the birds for a few weeks before collecting eggs by putting the birds on multi vits and a good quality chicken feed. Increase protein a bit. Offer extra calcium free choice. While conditioning the birds, keep an eye on your fertility rates.
