Bantam of the Opera! Farmer's hens lay more eggs when he plays them hits by Andrew Lloyd Webber Farmer Steve Ledsham, 64, says egg production doubled when he started playing soothing operatic music Hens prefer classical music to hits by One Direction or Miley Cyrus A farmer in Merseyside claims his chickens lay more eggs when he plays them soothing operatic music. Steve Ledsham, 64, says egg production soared when he started playing the hits of Andrew Lloyd Webber within earshot of his 24 hens while building a barn at his farm in Wirral. When Mr Ledsham went to collect eggs shortly afterwards, he noticed there were around double the amount he had expected to find. Good egg: Farmer Steve Ledsham says his hens started to lay more once he began playing them the hits of Andrew Lloyd Webber He says the dramatic increase, which saw the hens raise their output from four to eight eggs a week each, is all down to his taste for the classic songs of musical theatre. Mr Ledsham, who has worked on the farm for 20 years, said: â€˜We were building a barn at the time so we always had music playing in the background.â€™ He added: â€˜While building it we noticed the hens were laying more eggs and we put two and two together and realised it was because of the music.â€™ Mr Ledsham claims his hens only appreciate certain kinds of music however, adding that he doubts â€˜modern chart rubbishâ€™ by the likes of One Direction or Miley Cyrus would have had such a positive impact. He said: â€˜I'm not really a fan of new music and I don't think the chickens will be either so I'll stick to the traditional stuff.â€™ Cultured hens: Mr Ledsham claims his chickens wouldn't appreciate 'modern chart rubbish' such as One Direction and Miley Cyrus Mr Ledsham, who won The Soil Association's best organic farm shop in 2005, believes the main reason the hens are producing more eggs is because the music makes them more relaxed and happy. No yolk: The hens now lay around eight eggs a week each, rather than four â€˜Happy animals produce better goods so by playing some soothing opera classics they are able to relax a lot more than they usually would,â€™ he says. Mr Ledsham isnâ€™t the first farmer to claim exposure to classical music has a positive effect on his chickens. In 2008 Charles Bourns - a farmer in Gloucester - claimed his 70,000 chickens reacted positively to the soothing strains of Classic FM. He told Farmers Weekly that, despite experimenting with pop music, he found Classic FM worked best as it has fewer dramatic tempo changes and there was less talking between songs. In 2011 a farm in Hong Kongâ€™s New Territories conducted an experiment in which 20,000 chickens were played a mixture of classical, rap, pop and jazz. The results suggested that the hens were not particularly bothered by the different genres and would simply lay more eggs as long as there was a consistent rhythm drowning out any stress-inducing background noise. The theory has been backed by experts who say music can have a calming influence on animals. John Widdowson, Vice Chairman of the Free Range Egg Producers Association, said: â€˜A lot of people play music to chickens as a way of helping them to relaxâ€¦ It's a good idea because it blocks out any background noises which are prone to upset them.â€™ He added: â€˜But I don't know why they would prefer a specific type of music, they must be very cultured chickens.â€™ Top technique: The hens produce more eggs because the music relaxes them Mr Ledsham is happy in role as an egg pioneer, and hopes more farmers follow his example and begin experimenting with music. He says: â€˜I'm thrilled that it has worked and I'm pretty sure a few more farmers across the country are doing it now as wellâ€™.