A fox has died in extraordinary circumstances after losing the ultimate game of chicken during a night-time raid on a henhouse.

Students at Gros-Chene secondary school in Brittany were shocked to discover the dead body of the fox riddled with peck marks during their morning rounds last week.

The school maintains their brood of free-range chickens ganged up on the animal, attacking it in large numbers and overcoming it.

“There, in the corner, we found this dead fox,” Pascal Daniel, head of farming at the school, told news agency AFP. “There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks.”

The animal was reportedly surrounded, then killed in a corner of the building home to 3,000 chickens.

Sabotaging a fox hunt Show all 15 1 /15 Sabotaging a fox hunt Sabotaging a fox hunt A pack of hounds races past saboteurs. Hunting foxes with hounds is illegal in England. 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs geared up in camouflage strategize and survey maps of the area. They follow hunting teams around the countryside in cars and on foot, spraying citronella around to throw off the scent of the fox for the dogs. They use the same whistle the hunters use to get their dogs to turn left and right and all the commands, etc., which throws off the dogs. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs travel on foot through miles of country fields during a fox hunt. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt A pack of dogs waits for commands from their mounted owners. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt In England, fox hunting with hounds is illegal. So is sabotaging a hunt. Yet the police are there only for the saboteurs. 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs film the illegal practice of using dogs to hunt foxes. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs follow hunting team into the fields during a fox hunt. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs follow hunting team into the fields during an illegal fox hunt. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt A hunter angrily addresses a crowd of saboteurs. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Things turn dangerous as hunters on horseback rush the line of saboteurs. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt A hunter and saboteur share the same space as one attempts to direct dogs towards fox trails while another tries to confuse them. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Fox hunt saboteurs keep an eye over the horizon for signs of pursuit. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Saboteurs block hunters from passing. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt A mounted hunter addresses the saboteurs. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Sabotaging a fox hunt Mounted fox hunters, a pack of dogs, and saboteurs all converge before the hunt. Fox hunting with dogs is illegal and so is sabotaging the illegal hunt. England, 2011 Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

“It was a juvenile of five or six months, about 60cm long. He did not seem sick and in any case, he did not have scabies,” Mr Daniel said.

He suggested in recent months the hens had “learned” how to deal with such a scenario.

He said: “The hens can arrive en masse and the fox, surprised, could panic in front of the number.

“The hens have been there since July, so for more than seven months, and have probably learned to defend themselves.”

Apparently no chickens were found to have been injured during the incident.

It is thought the fox entered at dusk and then become trapped inside by light-controlled automatic doors that close when the sun goes down.

Regional paper France Oest quoted a wildlife expert from Brittany who said they were “surprised” by the turn of events.