U.K. Farmer Finds That Classical Music Makes Hens Lay More Eggs (Yes, Really!)

This may go down as the weirdest classical music story of 2013, getting in just before the year winds down. According to the U.K.'s tabloid Daily Star newspaper, a Merseyside farmer has discovered that playing classical music to his hens encourages them to lay more eggs.

Farmer Steve Ledsham has 24 hens. He was in the middle of building a new barn, always playing the classics to lighten the load of that onerous task, and he noticed that the nearby hens became far more productive.

And we're talking a big difference, doubling their normal rate.

The newspaper interviewed an expert from the Free Range Egg Producers' Association, who verified that chickens do tend to relax to music.

Asked whether he has tried playing them Miley Cyrus, say, Ledsham replied that, "No, I'm not really a fan of new music."

So, he won't be playing them any Nico Mulhy then, either.