Persistent cold hits poultry farms hard in Bangladesh

Intense cold weather persisting for weeks has caused about 20,000 small poultry farms to suspend their operations, making an increase in poultry bird prices inevitable, poultry businessmen fear.Bangladesh saw its minimum temperature drop to 5.8C in Tetulia on Friday, the lowest temperature recorded this year, with a cold wave sweeping Rangpur, Rajshahi divisions, and the district of Chuadanga.The cold wave might spread today.The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that the temperature might slightly increase after January 28 as the three-month-long winter season enters its last month.The first winter month this year, December, was rather warm, but January brought intense cold as temperatures steeply fluctuated in phases, accompanied by chilling wind and dense fog.‘Small poultry farms suspend their operations every winter because of their inability to maintain a certain temperature in their farms,’ said Shubash Chandra Das, who teaches poultry science at Bangladesh ...