Poultry hit hard as chickens dying, egg production drops due to extreme heat

In the midst of the scorching heatwave sweeping over the country, Bangladesh's poultry industry faces dire straits as rising temperatures are claiming lives of chickens daily, with egg production also plummeting across the nation.

Shahidul Shikder, a large-scale poultry farmer from Bhaluka in Mymensingh, houses 2 lakh broiler chickens in 150 sheds. He said he has been losing 2,000 to 2,500 chickens every day as they are dying of heatstrokes. The heatwave has also brought a decline in egg production, with a 5-7% decline in daily egg output from his 80,000 layer chickens.

The plight extends beyond Shahidul's farm.

Many farmers across Bangladesh have stopped raising chickens in sheds while others have opted for selling chickens before their growth targets are met. Moreover, egg production is decreasing due to less food consumption by chickens during summer. 

According to farmers, if this situation continues, a crisis may arise in the supply of broiler chickens and eggs in the coming days. The Met office forecasts that the heatwave may persist for an additional two to three days.

Farmers said the tolerable temperature for broiler chickens typically ranges between 24 and 25 degrees Celsius but now daytime temperatures are soaring above 40 degrees across the country. Even with adequate ventilation and using fans, chickens remain vulnerable to heatstroke as this extreme heat cannot be reduced by just running fans, they said, adding that only companies with temperature controlled sheds can cope with this situation.

Farmers told TBS that farms with large-sized chickens are having the most problems as those chickens are usually fed high protein diets. When these chickens weigh around 800-1,000 grams, fat starts to form, increasing the risk of heatstroke.

Badrul, an entrepreneur in Laksam, Cumilla, said he has 22,000 layer chickens and 93-95% produced eggs daily but it has come down to 80-85%. "The chickens are not eating enough food and if this situation continues, production may fall further," he added.

In Sitakunda, poultry farmer Mohammad Liton told the TBS, "I have installed 15 fans to save the chickens from the heat. But, due to persistent load-shedding, it has become difficult to save them. In the last week, more than 500 chickens died of heatstroke in my two sheds."

In response to the crisis, Dr Tahmina Arzu, livestock officer of Sitakunda upazila, acknowledged the worsening situation and advised farmers to cover the roofs of the sheds with leaves and sprinkle water on the leaves to control the heat.

In Rajshahi, farmer Shahinur Islam has set up a water fountain on the roof of his shed to protect chickens. In addition, he has also added a fan under the roof.

"Despite all these arrangements, one or two of my chickens are dying almost every day due to heatstroke," he added.

Zainul Abedin in Paba upazila of Rajshahi was going through a similar situation where he lost an average of seven chickens every day. On 20 April, he sold 3,000 immature chickens.

In Brahmanbaria, Khairul Ahmed Niaz, owner of Khan Broiler in Gazirbazar area of Akhaura upazila, said, "As temperature has been increasing for the past one week, 47 out of 1,600 chickens in my farm died of heatstroke in the last two days. Each chicken weighed about 1.5kg. As load shedding has increased due to the intense heat, all the chickens are prone to heatstroke."

According to our Lakshmipur correspondent, chickens are not dying only in farms in the district but also in sales centres in the city.

In Gazipur, poultry farmer Mohammad Abdul Aziz said, "I am rearing layer chickens in my farm as per the suggestions of the Livestock Department. I have arranged the shed to stay cool by sprinkling water through artificial fountains. The chickens are being constantly fanned, fed with extra cold water and saline.

He said, "None of my chickens have died yet but they are eating less and egg production is down. I am incurring losses due to additional cost as well as reduced egg production."

Bangladesh Poultry Association President Suman Howladar told TBS, "Marginal farmers are not getting chicks from corporations and those who have chicks are also in bad condition this summer.

"I am getting news of chickens dying due to heatstroke from all over the country."

The association advised farmers to take several steps to deal with heatwaves. They suggested ensuring adequate ventilation in the sheds, keeping chickens in low quantity within a shed, not using vitamin supplements in water, spraying the chickens, placing wet jute mats on the sheds and watering them regularly, and stopping food at noon.

The report was prepared with the help of TBS correspondents M Asaduzzaman Saad in Gazipur, Bulbul Habib in Rajshahi, Azizul Shonchay in Brahmanbaria, and Sana Ullah Sanu in Lakshmipur.