The chicken is commonly regarded to be a cowardly sort of creature, however a bizarre new story from France suggests this might not be the case.

Reports coming out from France say that a young juvenile fox about 6-8 months old was able to infiltrate the chicken shed through an automatic hatch but was shut in by the automatic function that shuts the chickens in the evening – leaving it trapped in the shed. He looked in good health and did not have scabies.

The shed contained about 3000 birds laying birds with 2.5 ha of pasture for their use during the day.

The body of the fox was discovered in a corner of the coop the following day, with puncture wounds from beaks noticed on its neck. There were reportedly no fatalities among the chickens that night. The hens can arrive en masse and the fox, surprised, could panic in front of this number. He seems to have been cornered and dealt with by the hens.

The hens have been there for more than seven months and have probably learned to defend themselves