Music charms the nervous chicken
Music charms the nervous chicken
CHICKENS thrive on jive according to a survey by the NFU and Edinburghs Roslin Institute released this week.
It says tuned-in chicks who listen to pop music are calmer, lay more eggs and suffer less illness.
The survey, which involved 100 farms, found that 96% of producers said their chickens were calmer, a fifth said their birds suffered less illness, 16% claimed more eggs were laid, and more than half reported that music made their chickens less aggressive.
But it is not just any old tunes that make the chicks shake their tail feathers, says the NFU. 70% favoured chart music, followed by easy listening music. Heavy metal and jazz were least popular.
NFU deputy president, Tony Pexton, said: "Farmers are continually looking at ways to help keep their animals content no matter how off-beat they may at first seem."
And Bryan Jones of the Roslin Institute said he was delighted to learn that half the farmers surveyed already routinely play music to their chickens, and that nearly all those who did not would now consider it. *