Benefits of music in chicken farming: Nearly 50,000 eggs/day

Music as a stress-relief therapy for chickens

At Tran Tung Lam’s farm in Phong Hai Commune, Lao Cai Province, the sheer number of chickens - tens of thousands - is impressive. But what stands out even more is the clean, cool environment, with virtually no unpleasant odor.

The chickens are raised in well-organized facilities equipped with odor-removal fans and cooling pads to maintain a stable temperature. Speakers are installed in each area to play music every day, helping keep the flock calm and reducing stress.

When our reporters visited, temperatures outside were around 36°C, yet it was pleasantly cool inside the farm. We also came across a worker taking a sound nap during his lunch break. It was a telling sign of just how clean, well-ventilated, and virtually odor-free the environment was.

In fact, technicians have described the farm as a “laboratory.” Lam started building it in 2018 with just two poultry facilities housing around 15,000 chickens. Before that, he visited farms to learn how to raise hens laying eggs. “I thought I had learned enough, but once I started raising them myself, I realized how different things were in practice,” he says.

The first two years were extremely difficult for Lam and his family, with challenges ranging from disease outbreaks to temperature control, ventilation, water supply, vaccines, and flock management. At one point, the farm was losing around VND 200 million a month. The most painful lesson came when they vaccinated the flock. Thousands of chickens were herded into one area, and when workers suddenly switched off the lights, the flock panicked and began piling on top of one another. Around 7,000 chickens suffocated, nearly half the flock at the time.

After the incident, Lam realized that with a large flock, even small changes can have serious consequences. Sudden changes in lighting, temperature, or the environment can cause the chickens to panic. Whenever things went wrong, he always tried to find the cause. “If you don’t understand why the chickens get sick or die, you’ll keep failing with the next flock too.”

Those failures gradually became valuable lessons. Lam realized that large-scale poultry farming cannot succeed by simply copying someone else’s formula for success, and that every aspect matters, from breeding stock, vaccines, and feed to water supply and the farm environment.

How a 60,000-chicken farm stays clean, cool and odor-free

Starting with 15,000 chickens in 2018, the farm now has around 60,000 Egyptian chickens. One of the most valuable lessons Lam has learned is the need to control everything from drinking water and temperature to waste. The water comes from a 75-meter-deep well and is treated with UV light to eliminate bacteria. Water pipes and feeders are also cleaned regularly.

At one point, the flock suffered from recurring digestive problems, and flies and unpleasant odors began to appear on the farm. He eventually traced the problem to the water supply. Since then, controlling the chickens’ drinking water has been a key part of the farm’s management. The laying hens are kept 50-80 cm above the ground to minimize contact with manure. Below them is a biological bedding system for waste treatment. Before the chickens are brought in, the floor is cleaned, treated with lime, and covered with rice husks. As manure accumulates, workers sprinkle beneficial microbes over the surface. The microbes are replenished about every two weeks to maintain the activity of the microbial community.

According to Lam, “If the farm environment isn’t kept clean, chickens are highly susceptible to respiratory diseases, which may require medication. Giving medication to laying hens can affect the quality of their eggs.” Once the hens enter the laying period, the farm does not use any medication. Each hen is kept for egg production for an average of 16 months.

In addition, the ventilation and cooling systems help maintain the temperature at around 25°C. Cooling pads are installed at one end of the facility, while fans at the other end keep the air circulating continuously. The system is controlled automatically by sensors.

Building a sustainable, automated poultry farm

Lam sees technology as a way to reduce manual labor and gain better control over each part of the farm’s operations. He uses FarmGo to track the number of chickens in each facility, daily egg production, feed consumption, revenue, expenses, payments, and orders. To cut operating costs, the farm has also invested in a solar power system. As a result, its reliance on grid electricity has been reduced by about two-thirds.

Lam plans to invest in an automated poultry farming system next year, with equipment sourced from China and a capacity of around 45,000 chickens. The new four-tier system will allow more chickens to be raised in the same space while reducing labor needs. Eggs will be automatically conveyed to the front of the facility after being laid, while manure will be collected from each tier and transported outside for processing and drying, rather than falling onto the floor as it does under the current system. With the new system, each facility will require only two to three workers. Egg collection and manure handling will be 100% automated.

The farm currently collects around 46,000 eggs a day. At a selling price of VND 2,900 per egg, this generates about VND 130 million in daily revenue. After all expenses, the farm owner estimates daily profit at around VND 25-30 million. Almost all the eggs produced each day are sold without storage.

The farm’s large-scale operation also creates jobs for local workers filling various positions, earning around VND 6-7 million per month.

With this approach, Lam Thao Clean Agriculture Cooperative is gradually moving towards a cleaner, greener, and more circular model of poultry farming.

$ 1 = VND 26,250 - Source: Vietcombank.