A grateful hen has laid a ‘thank you’ egg for police officers after they rescued her from wandering outside at night and let her spend the night behind bars.

Cops patrolling the streets in Alfeld, in the Hildesheim District, in Germany’s state of Lower Saxony, noticed the stray chicken wandering in the middle of the road in the late hours of Wednesday, 22nd May.

Unable to find her owner, they then opted to bring her back to the station with them and housed her in a detention cell for the night.

A Hildesheim Police Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “To prevent the chicken from being accidentally hit by a road user in the dark, the officers caught it and carefully transported it to the station in Alfeld.

“A temporary home and food were set up for the chicken in a detention cell.”

The next morning, however, cops were surprised when they went to check on the bird and were greeted with the unexpected sight of a freshly laid egg from the grateful hen.

The spokesperson added: “In the morning, it thanked the owners for their hospitality with a freshly laid breakfast egg.

“The owner was finally informed and picked up the chicken on May 22nd, 2024.”