Bangladesh: Heatstroke killing chickens in Kurigram poultry farms

The ongoing heatwave that struck Kurigram has caused a severe crisis in the poultry farming industry. Broiler chickens are dying of heatstroke every day and farmers are struggling to keep up with the losses.Despite their best efforts to address the high temperature-induced situation with electric fans, the incessant power outages have rendered them useless, they claimed.At least 30 chickens died of heatstroke in the last four days at a farm in Belgacha union of Kurigram sadar upazila.The farmer, Shahinur Rahman, is currently rearing 1,000 broiler chickens, and he is scheduled to market them within a week. However, due to the daily deaths of chickens, he is facing huge losses.Similar reports have come in from other farmers as well. Farmer Mehdi Hasan of Harishwar Kaloa village in Sadar said that 15 chickens died in his farm due to heat stroke in the last two days.‘Fans are not working due to load shedding, making it difficult to save the chicken,’ he said.Farmers said that not only ...