What’s hatching at the library?

At Bethlehem Public Library, we’re counting our chickens as they hatch this June – and you can too! For our “Incubation Eggsperiment,” we’ll be hatching a brood of chicks inside the library and live-streaming their progress through the Chick Cam featured on our website at www.bethlehempubliclibrary.org.

Environmental educator George Steele will drop by Saturday, June 1, at 3 p.m. to get things started with a “Meet the Chickens” program for kids and families. This is your chance to meet a rooster and a hen and learn about how the egg incubator in the Children’s Place works. The Chick Cam will go live the following Monday.

On Sunday, June 9, at 3 p.m. Steele will return for the second part of the “eggsperiment.” At the “Inside the Egg” program, he will show everyone how to candle the eggs to take a look at how the embryos are developing.

Then the waiting begins as we gently rotate and tend to the eggs for the next couple of weeks. Those watching the livestream will know things are getting close when hairline cracks appear as the chicks start pecking their way out.

Once they hatch, the chicks will hang around the library for a week or so before heading to the farm. Everyone is invited to record the progress of the eggs and post photos on Twitter and Facebook using #bplchickens.

Located in Delmar, Bethlehem Public Library serves a community of more than 26,000 in the Bethlehem Central School District. It provides access to the collections of all of the libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System, as well as meeting room space, Internet access, technology and a variety of programs and services for all ages.

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