Music helps raise quality chickens 25 Aug 2008

A chicken farmer in Yunlin County, Taiwan, was struggling with the high cost of chicken feed. Earlier this year he received assistance from the government in the form of music piped in to serenade the 40,000 chickens in their coops for 3-4 hours during feeding time.

The farmer stated that he noticed the positive effect the music was having on the chickens in just a short period of time. In the past, he said, it took over 90 days to grow a chicken to a weight of 3 kg. The period shortened to 80 days after they introduced the music, which means savings of over NT$100,000 in feed costs for each batch of chickens.

Additionally, the owner said that not only do both the cocks and hens exhibit even temperaments, but the chickens even produce better meat. Moreover, they are sold out when they hit the market. The birds also received certification for the chickens' being raised with music and sold without pharmaceutical residues. Their popularity has even prompted Singaporean buyers to request them.

The farmer said that on the trip he made to New Zealand and Australia in 2007, he discovered that pigs and cows that had been treated to music there were larger than those that weren't. This is becoming so popular that Universal Music Group was reportedly hired to put together a compilation of tunes, and airing the music at the chicken farms here has been a complete success.