Hong Kong chickens lay eggs to the strains of Mozart and Lady Gaga

Music may soothe the savage breast, but can it induce happier - and better quality - chickens? Poultry farmer Fong Chi-hung is betting that music does exactly that.

At his Harvest Musical Farm in Yuen Long, speakers pipe in an eclectic playlist that ranges from Mozart to sappy ballads to Lady Gaga's electro-pop. The tunes apparently give his flock of Zhongshan Shalan chickens a lift that also translates in the quality of the meat produced.

Consumers seem to share that view; the number of distributors for the music chickens has grown from the initial two to more than 30.

A former driver, Fong says he has been promoting his music chicken brand since incorporating songs into his farm regimen 10 years ago. Now the typical 2kg bird from Harvest Musical sells for HK$180, compared to HK$120 for a similar sized chicken from China (when imports of live birds were still allowed last year).

Fong's music eggs are even more precious: distributed in speciality outlets such as organic food shops, they sell for HK$7 each, double the price of organic eggs in most supermarkets. He also sells them online.

He insists it is a reasonable premium: "Unlike ordinary mainland eggs, which have flaccid yolks and runny whites, the yolk of a music egg is firm and there are two distinct layers of white."