Chickens in a school farm in north-western France are believed to have grouped and killed a juvenile fox. The unusual incident in Brittany took place after the fox entered the coop with 3,000 hens through an automatic hatch door which closed immediately. "There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks," said Pascal Daniel, head of farming at the agricultural school Gros-Chêne.
The body of the small fox was found the following day in a corner of the coop. "It had blows to its neck, blows from beaks," Mr Daniel told AFP news agency. The farm is home to up to 6,000 free-range chickens who are kept in a five-acre site. The coop is kept open during day and most of the hens spend the daytime outside, AFP adds. When the automatic door closed, the fox - thought to be around five or six months old - became trapped inside.
"A whole mass of hens can arrive together and the fox may have panicked in the face of such a big number", Mr Daniel told the regional newspaper Ouest France (in French). "They can be quite tenacious when they are in a pack".
Birds aren’t just the closest living relatives of dinosaurs — they are dinosaurs. The term “dinosaur” defines a very large group of animals with a huge diversity of traits that all descended from a common ancestor and ruled the world for many millions of years. A short history lesson: After the asteroid hit, almost all of them died out. But not all of them. Some dinosaurs — little things with wings and feathers and beaks — made it out OK, and from them, over 65 million years, emerged the 20,000 species of bird that call Planet Earth home today. If you could trace a chicken’s genetic ancestry back far enough, you’ll get that looks very much like the dinosaurs of our fossil record and of our imaginations.
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:10 pm
by YankeeTarheel
Picky, picky, picky!
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:15 pm
by Bucolic
We watched in horror when one of
our hens swallowed a live mouse whole. I now give the girls abundant respect when they come looking for meal worms.
As for dinosaurs, this guy always reminded me of whence he came.
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:43 pm
by K9s
As a kid, I couldn't help wonder why dinosaurs didn't have feathers. Back then, they were assumed to be lizards. We only used the abacus, stone tablets, tomahawks, and wooden wheels in the days of my childhood, so don't judge too harshly.
Seriously, I always thought T-Rex should look more like turkeys or vultures. And anyone who has dealt with chickens know their dinosaur ways.
Anyway, birds/dinosaurs are still very fierce. Poor baby fox learned that lesson the hard way.
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:04 am
by Bisbee
I saw a Cassowary at a zoo in Indonesia once and was shocked by how large, intelligent and fierce it appeared. A true direct ancestor of the dinosaurs. https://youtu.be/tgUdRo9eYoQ
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:35 am
by YankeeTarheel
Bucolic wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:15 pm
We watched in horror when one of
our hens swallowed a live mouse whole. I now give the girls abundant respect when they come looking for meal worms.
As for dinosaurs, this guy always reminded me of whence he came.
We have wild turkeys here in NJ, and I've seen toms on the street preening like that, fanning their magnificent tail feathers, though mostly they just walk around with their hens and juveniles.
One of our Belgian Tervuren almost got one! He landed in our yard and she (a very large female) took off after him! They don't fly very easily but he started running took off and landed on a branch over her...but the branch was so low and he was so big it started bending where our dog was eagerly waiting thinking: "LUNCH!!!" You could almost SEE him thinking "Holy SHIT!" as he looked down and started flapping wildly, getting away just before he was within her reach! She was about to have an early thanksgiving but...
Re: Chickens get revenge and kill the fox
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:42 am
by K9s
Bisbee wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:04 am
I saw a Cassowary at a zoo in Indonesia once and was shocked by how large, intelligent and fierce it appeared. A true direct ancestor of the dinosaurs. https://youtu.be/tgUdRo9eYoQ
Beautiful dinosaur! I bet some were colorful like that.
We had cows and chickens in a rural area until it was incorporated. Had to get rid of them around my age 6 or 7. We had some roosters I truly believe would kill most any small animal and they tried to do me in a few times. Those bastards hurt what with pecking, scratching and flapping wings. Me Mum saved my ass a few times. Have nothing but respect for chickens/fowls. When our fearless Fox Terrier got into the chicken pen he would go after the hens, but he would exit rapidly when the roosters came after him - we also knew after one of his forays we were gonna be eating a lot of chicken for awhile. LOL
