Cock-a-doodle blue!

EGGSTRA-ORDINARY . . . Bluey the chicken and its blue egg held by Elvie Hanss Picture by ANTHONY MILLER

SCHOOL hen Bluey has lived up to its name — laying a blue egg!

The unusual egg has delighted the 280 children at Springhead Infant and Nursery school.

Chickens became part of school life in a spring project to hatch chicks from eggs and then raise them to lay their own eggs.

Three were cockerels which have been found a new home in York, but five hens are now housed in a small coop at the school, next to the children’s allotment. Teacher Heidi Reitze explained: “The chicks hatched in April and laid their first eggs this month.

“All the children, aged three to seven, are caring for them.

“We have chicken monitors who water and feed them and we are having a bigger chicken coop built out of wood with donations from parents.

“It has been a long-term project, and the parents have been really involved.

“We use the eggs for making buns and cooking, but soon we might start selling them!”

Bluey’s egg, however, is going to be preserved for pupils to admire in years to come.