PUPILS at a Herefordshire school have hatched a plan to keep their chickens snug during the winter.

The little clukkers are warming to their new home at Orleton Primary School after villagers knitted them woolly jumpers.

The plucky trio are former battery hens and, as a result, are short on feathers leaving them liable to feeling the cold.

But following a request by a school governor, Milly, Molly and Mandy are now able to explore their new home in comfort, much to the pupils’ delight.

“They are really friendly and the kids love them,” said school business manager Rowena Morris.

“We have a chicken run for them and they seem really happy.

“A competition was held among the pupils to name the chickens with Milly, Molly and Mandy chosen.

“We use our eggs in the kitchen at school and when we have a surplus they are sold to the parents to help pay for the upkeep of the chickens.

“The children love to help collect the eggs.”

Rowena said the school decided to contact the British Hen Welfare Trust after seeing an article in our sister paper the Hereford Times earlier this month that stated almost 400 chickens were looking for new homes after being saved from slaughter.

She said the new additions replace the school’s previous two chickens which have now been ‘retired’ and taken home by a teaching assistant.

The school was one of the first in the West Midlands to be a Flagship Food for Life school (FFL).