Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

The chickens have NOT been outside at all today. They have not, as this photo from last month shows, spent hours in the sunshine pecking away at the grass and finding bugs to eat. And why? Well, our very helpful 'fox man' Keith, has set up a fox trap for us just inside the pop-hole to their corner of the barn with the chickens safe the other side. The idea is that the pop-hole stays open but if the fox tries to go in, he (or she) will get caught in the trap and be able to go no further. The trap is a 'live' trap in that the fox is 'trapped' but totally unhurt and like most animals when caught in such a way, will probably lie still until he/she is found. There is a dead chicken (not one of ours) in the trap as 'bait'.
We had a long chat with Keith about the reasons for and against trapping foxes. We, as poultry owners, have a statutory (legal) duty of care to our birds as well as a moral one. Foxes on the other hand are wild animals who in keeping with other wild animals (otters, stoats, lions, owls...), kill purely to feed themselves and their young. Foxes have a bad reputation as they will often kill many chickens but only then take one away with them. The fact is however, that they WOULD come back and take all the birds they'd killed but most of the time poultry owners clear up after a fox visit so there is nothing left for them.
We don't want our birds to suffer but neither do we want to 'punish' the fox for doing what is actually a very natural behaviour. Having our birds inside is not a natural state mind you and so on balance we currently feel that we need to remove the fox from the area in order that our poultry can once again free range.