New Zealand’s only organic free-range chicken producer, Bostock Brothers, has spotlighted animal welfare via a quirky partnership with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO), which has seen the musicians produce an original composition purely for the birds.
To continue enriching the lives of their organic chickens, the piece has been explicitly tuned to the chooks’ musical tastes. It is the next step in championing the brothers’ ethical farming practice values, ensuring their birds live happier lives.
Created by composer and sound designer Hamish Oliver, the piece taps into global studies that validate chickens’ enjoyment of classical and baroque music and instrumental sounds tested explicitly on the Bostock Brothers’ chickens.
“The Bostock Brothers chickens were responsive to the viola, oboe, and bassoon, so I combined a string quartet with the squawkiest instruments of the woodwind family (oboe and bassoon) and added some inspiration from the chicken sound-world. The baroque-flavoured result will no doubt soothe the birds and appeal to their senses,” said Oliver.
“It’s not every day that composing opportunities for a feathered audience come up, and this has been a new kind of musical challenge for me, a definite career highlight, a quirky project with a serious intent and purpose behind it, too."
To launch the piece, musicians from the NZSO participated in a live orchestral performance for the chickens at the Bostock Brothers’ farm in Hawke’s Bay.
Bostock Brothers and the NZSO have released the symphony online for anyone (or any bird) to enjoy via Spotify and the NZSO’s streaming platform, NZSO+. They are encouraging other chicken farmers to play it to their flocks.
As New Zealand’s only organic chicken producers, Brothers and founders Ben and George Bostock are no strangers to industry firsts, and the NZSO’s Chook Symphony is no exception.
With feel-good farming and transparency at the heart of the business, the brothers were the first and only local outfit to introduce certified organic products, naturally grown chickens farmed longer, air-chilling and carbon-conscious practices (as they work towards carbon-zero certification). The creation of ‘Chook Symphony’ is yet another golden example of the brothers’ investment in the welfare of their chickens, no matter the idea.
“From start to finish, we’ve always strived to be the best at what we do,” said Ben.
“Chicken farming is incredibly complex and organic farming even more so, and we’re constantly looking for ways to better our practices, ensuring our chickens are happy, healthy and organic.”
Ben Bostock said the brothers were thrilled to partner with NZSO to bring another first to the local chicken industry, the ‘Chook Symphony’. While it could be considered a different approach to farming, the Bostock brothers know that investing in a quality environment for their birds will only yield quality results.
While their dedication to organic and free range has several intricacies, the brothers’ love of innovation and integrity see them stay true to their feel-good farming vision and mission to give their chickens the best life.
“When we started this journey, our perception of free-range chicken farming was birds roaming freely in open fields, but we didn’t see this because, in reality, that’s not the case,” said George.
George Bostock stated that this spurred the brothers on to make sure the Bostock Brothers’ production matched that idyllic free-range vision.
“We are proud that our birds live longer, happier lives than any conventional free-range chicken, and that’s precisely what they do.”
Bostock Brothers’ chooks thrive on a wholesome diet of certified-organic green grass, juicy apples, and being home-grown feed, roaming freely between the apple trees and uniquely designed French chalets, and now listen to classical music composed just for them.
“I think most would consider that a good life.”
This composition is as much about giving the birds something special as it encourages the wider industry to do more for their flocks.
And the wider NZSO is equally on board with the brothers’ ingenious approach to organic farming practice.
“The partnership with Bostock Brothers is incredibly unique, and we couldn’t be more captivated by it,” said NZSO chief executive Peter Biggs.
“Never could we have imagined producing a composition, especially for a flock of chooks, let alone performing for them, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
In many ways, the NZSO considers classical or symphonic music to be ‘organic’ relatively speaking, and as a wider group, it's passionate about local business and ethical farming, so there are some lovely synergies between the two.
“The Bostock Brothers do things differently and produce a high-quality product - we do too - and we’re hoping this partnership will encourage the wider industry to put animal welfare first, for good.”
