Learning from more than books: Dwight Public Library hatches chicks to the delight of patrons

Books are wonderful things that entertain and inform, but no matter how well they are written they can’t always compete with an off-the-page experience.

When a kindergarten-aged patron at Dwight Public Library asked staff they had any books on how chicks are hatched, they decided to not just order in some books—they decided to show her. Because although she could learn about how an egg becomes a chicken from a book, there’s something magical about watching it unfold firsthand.

They ordered an incubator, borrowed a heat lamp from a local resident, and turned a toddler-sized pool into a pen. They sourced some eggs for a variety of chicken breeds from local cousins Scott and Ian MacKinnon. And then they waited.

It takes 21 days, give or take, for an egg to hatch. Like humans, they don’t always arrive on their due date. A display of plastic eggs next to the incubator revealed day-by-day what the developing chick inside the eggs would look like. Patrons stopped in daily to check on their progress.

What’s happening inside the eggs? This display shows a day-by-day image of the chicks growing.

Four eggs remain in the incubator at Dwight Public Library

And as their due date approached, the library set up a live YouTube feed so people could watch from home and maybe, if they were lucky, catch one of the chicks breaking through its shell. (While the eggs are in the incubator, you can watch the YouTube feed here.)

The first chick arrived on Saturday, May 19 at about 7:00 p.m., a few days early, followed by two more. The other eggs have not yet hatched, but the librarians have been told that they could hatch up to three days later than expected and candling last week—placing each the eggs in front of a candle flame or other bright light so that the chick inside can be seen—suggested that all of the eggs were viable.

The eggs are from five different breeds. The three that have hatched so far are likely Brown Leg Horn (the one with dark feathers) and Americana (the two lighter-coloured chicks). The other eggs are Silky-Black, Silky-Buff, and Dominique.

“It’s really been fun to watch them and to see the reaction of people coming in,” says librarian assistant Elaine Griffioen. “They are so excited and the kids are so fascinated.”

When the chicks are a bit older, all of the females will go to local homes where they will be kept as laying hens. Homes outside of Lake of Bays have also been found for any chicks that are roosters. (By bylaw, roosters can’t be kept on non-farm properties Lake of Bays.)

A workshop on raising chickens earlier this month was well-attended by residents interested in having their own coops. Given the interest and now that the library has the equipment, it may hatch chicks again in the future so that those who missed out on seeing them the first time around can watch the process all over again. But the existential question—which came first, the chicken or the egg?—you’ll have to ponder on your own.

If you are interested in having your own backyard coop, be sure to check local bylaws first. The Town of Huntsville allows for a maximum of 10 hens (no roosters) on urban properties larger than one acre. Hens must be kept in a rear yard in a screened and rodent and predator-proofed enclosure that is no closer than 6.0m from a side or rear property line. (See clause 2.78 of Huntsville Zoning Bylaw 2008-66P for more information.) The Township of Lake of Bays allows for a maximum of five hens on properties less than one acre or 10 hens on properties more than one acre (no roosters in either case) kept in a rear yard in a screened and rodent and predator-proofed enclosure that is no closer than 4.5m from a side or rear property line. (See Lake of Bays Bylaw 2013-161 for more information.)

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