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Animals

Watching Chickens Play the Xylophone Is Our New Favorite Hobby

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What comes to mind when you think of a flock of chickens? Funny? Yep. Odd? Definitely. Cute? Sure. Musical? Probably not. And that’s because the sounds produced by chickens aren’t pretty by any stretched definition of the word, especially when you compare a chicken’s cluck-cluck-clucking to the melodic cry of the Wood Thrush, which is considered to be the Most Beautiful Bird Song in North America. But that doesn’t mean you should write off chickens’ music-making abilities for good, because we’ve found a talented all-bird band — yes, you read that right — that’ll have you asking, “Wood Thrush who?”

dancing chicken

(Photo Credit: Giphy)

Chickens may be the least musically inclined birds you can think of, but this “Empty Nest Chickens Band” YouTube video has us cracking — or should we say clucking — up. Although the clip is only 16-seconds long, these five chickens pecking at a xylophone could entertain us all day! And judging by the 100,000+ views the video has racked up, we’d guess there are many other Empty Nest Chicken Band fans out there, too.

Surprisingly, these musical birds aren’t the only chicks making headlines. A few months ago, an all-chicken band from Germantown, Maryland, caused quite a commotion online. Since their debut, The Flockstars — a band consisting of four rocking chickens named AiChan, Millie, Spaetzle, and Jokgu — have gained more than 32,000 Facebook followers.

“Engaging chickens in play is a great way to keep them mentally and physically healthy,” The Flockstars’ coop co-owner Shannon Myers says. “We combined their natural curiosity and intelligence with their love for pecking at brightly colored objects, and trained them to play on toy instruments.”

The xylophone isn’t the only instrument these talented hens can play. Myers says her brilliant birds can also play the drums, the keyboard, and the piano. Who would have thought a group of chickens could be so dynamic?

“They actually enjoy the instruments a lot on their own (playing when they don’t even know we are around),” Myers says. “When we are there, it seems like they try to impress us by competing to play the best ‘song.’ We keep them entertained by giving them things to play with, and they keep us entertained with their showmanship!”

Even though The Flockstars have garnered a hefty fan base, Myers says these chicks aren’t for hire. The stress of travel and the possibility of catching disease is just too much for her pets to handle, which is why they will stick to video. But don’t fret, you can still show your support for the band with Flockstars merchandise, including t-shirts or your very own toy xylophone! How cute!

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