Over April vacation week, representatives from Casey Farm in Saunderstown visited the Cranston Public Libraries, bringing with them one of the first signs of spring in Rhode Island – newborn baby chicks.

On April 24, Casey Farm’s Donna Mazzone was at the Oak Lawn Baptist Church for an Oak Lawn Library vacation week presentation for adults and children. Mazzone brought with her a slideshow that taught her audience about Casey Farm, its history and what guests can see when they visit.

Mazzone also brought a large display of eggs and showed the group the biggest, an ostrich egg, and the smallest, which was from a hummingbird. She also brought “Henrietta the Hen” with her, as well as two different types of baby chicks hatched on the farm – Dominique and Rhode Island Red chickens. These two types of chicks are also the types that are hatched in the Casey Farm classroom incubators throughout the state, as children in the preschool and primary grades get a hands-on lesson in the life cycle of a chicken each spring.

At the end of Mazzone’s formal presentation, the guests were grouped into small circles of approximately 10 people each, and student library volunteers helped to coordinate the hands-on portion of the event, in which guests were allowed to touch the baby chicks if desired. Each circle was given one of each type of chick, and the chicks were allowed to walk around inside the circle.