Pet hen inspires school's
book

A chicken has certainly ruffled a few feathers after being
rescued from a battery farm by a Kent school and finding herself
the star of a new book.

Students at South Borough Primary school, of Stagshaw Close in
Maidstone rescued three battery hens in 2009 and they have been
much-loved school pets ever since.

They often featured in the children's stories and artwork so the
school decided to create and publish their own children's book "Mrs
Pen the Hen".

Julie Ongley, who wrote the book said: "They were always drawing
pictures of her and talking about her or making up their own
stories, so the story really came from them.

"I'm not an artist and I'm not a writer so I just tried to put
all the children's ideas together in my pictures."

The book will now go on sale on Amazon and all the proceeds are
being given to The British Battery hen welfare trust.

As for Mrs Pen, she remains very much the star of the show.

Mrs Ongley added: "There's always something that Mrs Pen's
involved in, whether it's counting her eggs, weighing her eggs, all
the stories and songs the children make up about her, everything
you can think of, there's always an opportunity for Mrs Pen, even
in the school nativity."