A group of plucky chickens got their revenge on a sneaky fox after it crept into their coop - by knocking it out and pecking it to death.
Michelle Cordell, 43, went to collect eggs from the pen at the bottom of her garden in Basildon, Essex, on Saturday morning and found a dead fox lying amongst the birds. The animal seemed to have been pecked to death and was covered in blood marks from its legs to its head. Dude the cockerel is suspected to have led the rebellion assisted by his female friends Izzy, Pongo and Pecky.
"The little table in the corner of the coop which the chickens perch on had been kicked over and was lying next to the fox's head," Ms Cordell said. "It seems they kicked over the table, knocked the fox out and pecked it to death."
"It was not a cub, but it was only young and Dude and Izzy are big birds."
Ms Cordell lives with her partner Gary Howell and daughters Maddi and Ruby, who had hand-reared Dude from a chick. Foxes have broken into the coop before but previous battles have always resulted in bird casualties.
