Anecdotal evidence indicates that pigs are happy as muck while listening to certain types of music. The Flemish government now wants to test that, setting aside €75,000 towards studies to see whether music can improve the well-being of pigs, according to Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
Pig farmer Piet Paesmans has been playing music in his pigsties for almost a decade and is convinced that music makes the pigs more content.
But not all music makes the pigs happy. Unfortunately for dance music or heavy metal fans, the pigs seem to dislike any “stirring music with lots of rhythm changes”, which makes them restless. “We don’t want that,” says Paesmans.
The Nieuwerkerken pig farmer is convinced of the positive effects of classical music on pigs, stating that Johan Verminnen and Johann Bach are some of their favourite composers.
“I first noticed it when we were working in the sow shed for a long time. At the time, when the animals were sleepy, my son, who was 10 at the time, started singing, and the pigs started wagging their tails and becoming active again."
As a result, the pigs now have their own dedicated playlist which plays throughout the day. The tempo of the music is adapted to the daily rhythm of the pigs. The music is always kept reasonably quiet, as the pigs dislike loud noise.
'A stressed-out pig is no good'
Recently, the farmer teamed up with a software company to explore the effect. Using cameras, the behaviour of the pigs is analysed, and the music automatically adjusted. The farmer has no proof that the pigs are living better lives but the Flanders region thinks that he might be onto something, and is investing taxpayer money into an investigation.
“We are among the farms that use the least antibiotics and I am convinced that music plays a role in that. I compare my pigs to top athletes. They not only have to be in good physical shape, but also mentally. A stressed-out pig is no good,” Paesmans said.
There is certainly precedent for such a belief, although studies can at times be contradictory or confusing. In Turkey, a cow breeder showed that the animals produced significantly more milk when classical music was being played. Other anecdotal evidence shows that cows seem to become enthralled by certain types of music.
For pigs, a PhD research project from Brazil tested the effect of Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 on a group of piglets. The experiment produced better behaviour in the animals and greater feed conversion. The study even suggested that classic music performances may be an affordable rearing technique for small, medium, and even large farms.
Inside the mind of a pig
The Flanders region wants to really understand what makes the pigs tick. By sponsoring the “Music Pigs” project, they want to understand how the animals interact with music, what benefits it can provide, and what music works best.
“We wanted to give the pigs control in the first trial by letting them choose their own music on a sort of jukebox,” professor Frank Tuyttens from the University of Gent told Het Nieuwsblad. “But that turned out to be too complex. That’s why we installed different types of music, to see if there were certain genres that they preferred.”
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Early findings suggest that pigs have different tastes depending on their age. Just like humans, piglets may react positively to one type of music, while sows enjoy something slightly different.
The research, the team explains, is deeply centred around animal welfare and aims to improve the lives of pigs.
“We should also investigate why the music is appreciated. Does it break up their day, the boredom? Or does it mask other sounds that the animals find stressful? Or is the farmer in a better mood and does it reflect on them? More research is needed to find out,” the researcher concluded.
