Why Chicks Dig Rock, and Horses like Country Music

 

Chillin' to Classic Rock

I think my chicks are into Classic Rock.
I don’t know if it has anything to do with them being young and living out of a basement; or that they are all feathered in black and sport ”eyeliner”. But when we plugged in a small radio for them this week, the spotty reception gave us two choices: Talk Radio and Classic Rock: the clear choice was Rock. It was like a musical trance as they noticeably set aside their pecking order battles, cocked their quizzical heads to the side, and settled down to listen. One of the girls must have even like Freddy Mercury’s voice, because she soon dozed off in the middle of a Queen song.

Maybe it is human nature in which we personify that our animals would feel alone without us. Or, that they might find comfort in human voice and song in a way that we do. But, who hasn’t left the television or radio on for your dogs or cats when you knew you would be gone all day? Likewise, we had always left the radio on for the horses in the barn, and of course, it was set to the Country station.  I believed they enjoyed it...as it seemed that they would keep time to Toby Keith as they munched on their morning hay.

With a little bit of researching, I found that I am not the only one who wondered about this:
 
To the North of me, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Animal Psychologist Charles Snowden has conducted research into species-specific music. His theory tests the pitches, tones and tempos of music that are familiar to each particular species. His findings suggest that they enjoy music that matches their species likenesses. Humans additionally like music that fall within our vocal range, and similarly use tones we understand. Further research also suggests that we follow music that progresses at a tempo similar to that of our heartbeats.

With that knowledge, I now began a little experiment on my part with my “Rocker” chicks.
A normal heartbeat for a baby chick is 350-450 beats per minute, and for comparison, a normal adult chicken it is 250-300 beats per minute. Music with a faster tempo should easily be compatible for fowl, right? Our problem with a faster tempo arises when this music scarcely exists for human consumption, and better still, I doubt it would be on a radio stations play list!

Ok, so you are with me so far? Backtracking I look into different kinds of music that are in a regular radio rotation. A simple examination into the beats per minute (BPM) of select popular Classic Rock songs will get us a little closer to the Chicks preference:

Pink Floyd,  Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) ------------ 104 BPM

Guns 'n' Roses,  Sweet Child O' Mine -------------------------- 125 BPM

Queen,  We Will Rock You -------------------------------------------- 163 BPM

The beats are up there, but perhaps I can find an old “Head banger’s Ball“ airing on MTV, or some crazy fast Techno dance music to sooth the chicks! On second thought, I don't think that it won't get too far in my house!

For comparison, a Human has 70 heartbeats per minute, but if you are also curious in comparing the heartbeats of dogs, horses and humans to beats per minute performed in music; here are a few different variations for your consideration:

Dogs: Heartbeats Per Minute                                 Horses: Heartbeats Per Minute

 60 – 100 BPM for Large Breeds                                         30 to 50 BPM for Mature Horse

100 – 140 BPM for Small Breeds                                        45 to 65 BPM for 2 Year Old

180 BPM  for Puppies up to One Year of age               80 to 100 BPM for Newborn Foal

Country Music
Somewhat more suited to the small dogs and foals, maybe?

Toby Keith,  I Love this Bar ----------------------------------------- 115 BPM

Carrie Underwood,  Good Girl -------------------------------------- 130 BPM

Alan Jackson,  Little Bitty -------------------------------------------- 163 BPM

 

Rock/Pop
A wide wide range in this genre, but here's some good picks~

The Beatles,  Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)-------90 BPM

Coldplay,  Clocks ------------------------------------------------------- 131 BPM

Black Eyed Peas,  I Gotta Feeling ----------------------------------200 BPM

photo courtesy of Rocknoaksranch.com

Interestingly enough for horses, if you have seen Mexico’s legendary crooner and film star, Vincente Fernandez performing on his beautiful Andalusian stallions, you would now think, "Hey, he’s onto something!"

Vicente Fernandez,   Por Capricho ----------------58 BPM

Vicente Fernandez and Tony Bennett, 
Return to Me (Regresa A Mi)-------------------65 BPM

I added the above link because it's a beautiful song, and the video shows Vincente's collection of horses~just a little partial here!


Finding a song's beat per minute is fairly easy since DJ's and music producers compile this information for the purpose of mixing songs, and there are many Internet sites dedicated to these numbers. Additionally, if you like to work out, produce your own play list loaded with with BPM's to match your desired heart rate.

As far as my lack of radio selection is concerned... I don’t know about these chicks being Groupies yet, but time will tell if my girls will swoon and lay well for a good Bon Jovi ballad!

Cheers!