- ATLANTA (Reuters) - Chickens appear healthier and happier, and lay more
eggs, when farmers play music to them, researcher Bryan Jones told an international
poultry farmers gathering in Atlanta Friday.
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- Jones, of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute,
said he set out to discover if music could soothe ruffled feathers and
boost egg production.
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- "We wanted to determine whether
the mythology was based on fact," said Jones, whose institute produced
Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep.
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- After surveying more than 100 poultry
farmers at a British pig and poultry fair, Jones said researchers found
that 46 percent of the farmers routinely played music to their birds.
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- "The most important question we
asked them was whether they had noticed any benefits," he said.
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- The answer was an overwhelming yes.
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- Ninety percent said birds dosed with
music were calmer, 52 percent said they were less aggressive, 20 percent
reported the overall health of the flock had improved, and 16 percent claimed
increased egg production, Jones said.
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- Jones dismissed reports from farmers
that some types of music actually increased the birds's anxiety level,
and that the birds preferred easy-listening or Top-40 selections.
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- "We asked the farmers whether some
types of music were better than others. They indicated that heavy metal
was the worst but chickens didn't like opera or jazz, either," he
said.
-
- "I suspect what we are seeing here
is a reflection of the farmers' preferences rather than the chickens',"
he added.
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- Jones also sought to clear up another
controversy surrounding chickens. He said contrary to their reputation,
they are not dumb clucks.
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- "They've had bad press over the
years," he said. "They actually are quite intelligent. They pay
close attention to all sorts of things, including noises."
-
- Jones said poultry producers were wrong
to believe that chickens do better in sterile environments with little
exposure to sights and sounds.
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