2018 marks the fifth year that Patchogue-Medford Library will be hatching baby chicks! We have been monitoring and maintaining the optimum temperature and humidity levels in the incubator since our eggs arrived on March 15. We are just about ready to increase the humidity from 48%-56% to 65% and begin the final three day countdown to hatching. [Read more…]
Summer Reading Club 2017: Build a Better World
Welcome to summer! Welcome to the last day of school! Happy summer to everyone! While we enjoy the long days of summer and time away from formal learning, let’s not forget to enjoy the joys of summer reading! Not only is it fun, it’s good for you!
The Educational Benefits of Reading
Did you know that reading four or five books during the summer can help prevent low reading scores in children in the fall? Children and Teens who participate in summer reading return to school ready to learn. They improve their reading skills and enjoy reading more and thus become more confident in their reading skills! Did you know that teachers spend an average of four to six weeks reteaching material that students have lost due to the dreaded summer slide?
The Baby Chicks Have Hatched!
2017 is the fourth year that Children’s and Parents’ Services will be hatching baby chicks during the school spring break. Over the past few years, we’ve had a pretty good hatch rate for our chicks. In 2014 we successfully hatched eight chicks, the last of which we named Lucky because he almost didn’t make it! In 2015, ten chicks and last year, nine chicks hatched. We candled our eggs and discovered that at least one of them is empty. Because the shell of the dark brown eggs is so dark, it makes it difficult to see what is going on inside the egg.
Baby Chicks will be hatching at the Teen Center
New this year, the Teen Department at the Carnegie Building will also be hatching chicken eggs for the first time. Their eggs will be hatching sometime around Monday, April 17.
On the first full day of spring, Tuesday, March 21, I placed a dozen eggs in our incubator, located in my office on the Lower Level of the Library. Four of the eggs are white, four are light brown and four are dark brown.
The white eggs are from a White Leghorn mix breed and they will hatch into the familiar yellow chick that we all remember from the early ‘60’s cartoon Foghorn Leghorn who always asked the baby chick character, Henery “So you want to be a chicken hawk, do ya son?” There is no way to determine the sex of these chicks when they are hatched.
The Baby Chicks will be one of three varities
The brown eggs will hatch into either Black Star chicks or Cinnamon Queen chicks. Black Star chicks are a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and a Barred Rock hen. Female Black Star chicks hatch all black and the male chicks hatch black with a white spot on its head.
Cinnamon Queen chicks are a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen. Female Cinnamon Queen chicks hatch red and the male chicks hatch yellow.
Click this link to watch the hatching action on our live feed!
Now that you know all that, you may be able to identify them as they begin to hatch on Monday, April 10. Be sure to check the Patchogue-Medford Library’s Live Chick Cam on Youtube often so that you don’t miss these eggs hatching!
Since March 21st and for the last 18 days, we have monitored and maintained the optimum temperature and humidity levels in the incubator of approximately 100 degrees and a 48%-56% humidity. Later today, the eggs will be taken out of the automatic eggs turner and laid down on the screen inside the incubator and the humidity will be increased to 65%.
Baby Chicks are expected Monday, April 10th, 2017!
This begins the final three day countdown as the chicks prepare to hatch. With any luck, on Monday, the eggs will begin to show signs of pipping by the chick. The chick will use a special egg tooth to peck its way out of the shell. This egg tooth is only there on the chick for the first 12-24 hours. The hatching process requires a great amount of exertion on the part of the chick. The chick alternates between periods of activity and lengthy periods of rest. Chicks can take up to 24 hours to hatch. While it can be a slow process, it is amazing to watch! Once all or most of the eggs have hatched and the chicks are dry, they will be moved to a brooder box. Chicks absorb some of their yolk so they can survive in the incubator for 48-72 hours before being moved.
I know you won’t want to miss out on the action and educational experience this year! The chicks will be around for about a week if you would like to come down and see them in person too! We have many stories as well as nonfiction books about chickens that you can borrow from the Children’s and Parents’ Services Department as well as from the Adult Department too!
Looking forward to seeing you (and the chicks!) soon!
Mrs. Drake, Children’s and Parents’ Services
Baby Chicks Hatching Next Week!
On Tuesday, April 5, CAPS placed twelve eggs in our incubator, located in my office on the Lower Level of the Library. Six of the eggs are dark brown and two are light brown. These eggs will hatch into either Black Star chicks or Cinnamon Queen chicks. Female Black Star chicks hatch all black and the make chicks hatch black with a white spot on its head. Female Cinnamon Queen chicks hatch red and the male chicks hatch yellow.
Families that Play Together, Learn Together!
Looking for something new and fun for you and your child to do at the Library?
Maybe you’d like to slip in a little something educational too?
Why not come down to Children’s and Parents’ Services and play one of our Money for Life games together with you child? Not only will you have some family fun but you will also learn about spending, sharing and saving money and your child will begin to learn basic financial principals.
We have many games and activities for children of varied ages available at the CAPS Desk with a Library card. We will hold your Library card while you have some fun playing one of our board games during your visit at the Library.
Protect Your Child From Measles, Whooping Cough, Mumps……
Shots for Tots
As the number of reported cases of measles continues to rise nationally, and as pertussis continues to circulate locally, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Dr. James Tomarken, Commissioner of Health Services, remind parents to make sure that their children are up-to-date on immunizations.
“Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death,” said County Executive Steve Bellone. “They not only help protect vaccinated individuals, but also help protect entire communities by reducing the spread of infectious diseases.
“Providing babies with the recommended immunizations by age two is the best way to protect them from potentially life-threatening diseases,” said Dr. James Tomarken, “Currently, the United States has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in its history, so there is every reason to obtain immunizations on time according to the recommended schedule.”
In observance National Infant Immunization Week (April 18 through April 25, 2015), Dr. Tomarken offers five important reasons why immunizations need to be a top priority for parents:
1. Immunizations can save children… from 14 vaccine preventable diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza type B, varicella (chickenpox), pneumococcal disease, rotavirus and influenza.
2. Immunizations are safe and effective … and given to children only after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals.
3. Immunization protects others … from getting preventable diseases. Babies who are too young to be fully immunized, immune-compromised individuals, pregnant women and older adults, are among those who are particularly vulnerable to disease. To help keep them safe, be sure that you and your children are fully immunized.
4. Immunization saves time and money. Vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term disability care. In contrast, immunization is a good investment and usually covered by insurance.
5. Immunization protects future generations. Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago. If we continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may be able to trust that it is possible some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the future.
Families are encouraged to check with their doctors to make sure every child’s immunizations are up to date. Parents who have questions about immunization may call Suffolk County’s Shots for Tots Hotline, 631-854-0222, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The Shots for Tots Program will be held at the Patchogue-Medford Library on Tuesday, April 21 from 3-6 p.m. in Meeting Room A. No appointment necessary. Bring your immunization record with you. Additional information and vaccination schedules may be found on the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s web site at www.cdc.gov/vaccines.
Note: The Department of Health Services offers the MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) immunization to college students, as mandated by NYSDOH. Call the SCDHS Office of Public Health, 631-854-0333, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for dates, times and locations.
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