Jeremy Clarkson loses 34 chickens in fox attack on farm

Jeremy Clarkson has been left fuming after a fox killed a large number of his outdoor hens at his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire.

The TV presenter-turned-farmer revealed on Twitter on Wednesday (5 May): “A fox has just killed 34 of my hens.”

A fox has just killed 34 of my hens.

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) May 5, 2021

Mr Clarkson also uploaded a video of his hens on his Instagram page (@jeremyclarkson1) and wrote: “A fox has just killed all of them.”

See also: ‘I spend my evenings buried in Farmers Weekly’ says Clarkson

Some fans offered sympathy, while others suggested Mr Clarkson should get his gun out to deal with the fox.

One said: “Really sorry to hear that. It’s peak time of year for this to happen, as they’re out finding food for their recently born cubs. Hope you’ve got some chickens left…”

Stu Hudson (@StuHudson1) said: “I feel you pain. We had a fox attack during the day, wiped out all of our young hens and left an older hen in a very bad state. We lost 30 on that day! I Had to keep the children away while I cleaned up chicken parts!”

Others offered Mr Clarkson some advice. Tom Manning (@723charlton) posted: “Sounds extreme, but we bought a couple of alpacas to guard around the chicken area. They scare off the foxes and produce excellent rugs each year.”

Another said: “Electric netting has worked for us for 20 years.”

Mr Clarkson followed up with a second post on his Instagram account which showed a photo of himself in an iconic Top Gear moment with the caption: “I’m gonna get that b*****d.”

‘Lucky to be alive’

Writing in his column in the Sunday Times Magazine at the weekend, Mr Clarkson said he felt lucky not to have been injured or killed since he took up farming 18 months ago.

He referred to a recent Farmers Weekly story which revealed that more than 50 people had died while working in UK agriculture over the past 12 months – the highest level for 25 years.

“It’s clear, then, that when you visit the British countryside, you are entering the killing fields,” lamented Mr Clarkson.

He said he had experienced the dangers of working with tractors first-hand and branded quad bikes as the most stupid form of transportation since the Sinclair C5.

Meanwhile, Mr Clarkson said he had been put off buying Friesian cows after learning that Friesian bulls were capable of premeditating attacks and holding grudges. “They are black-and-white terminators,” he said.

Mr Clarkson has been working on an eight-part TV series, I Bought A Farm, which is due to be released later this year on Amazon Prime.