Thousands of chicken die, egg production drops

Poultry farmers face a double whammy as intense heatwaves follow the purchase of chicks at inflated prices. The ongoing heatwave, which commenced after Eid, has resulted in a staggering daily loss of approximately one lakh chickens due to heatstroke. 

Against the backdrop of this dire situation, the surviving chickens have experienced a significant decline in egg production, with a drop ranging from 8 to 10 percent.

If this situation persists, poultry farmers think there could be a crisis in the supply of broiler chickens and eggs in the coming days. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has also forecasted that the heatwave may continue throughout April.

According to the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA), an organization of marginal poultry farmers, more than 10 lakh broiler, layer, and Sonali chickens have died across the country in the last 10 to 12 days after Eid. Of these, 80 percent were broiler chickens, and 10-15 percent were layer chickens. Additionally, 50 percent of other chickens, including Sonali, have died.

The poultry farmers expressed concern that if this situation continues for a few more days, 15 to 20 thousand marginal poultry farms will be shut down. If the farms are shut down, egg and chicken production will decrease. Taking advantage of this opportunity, corporate suppliers and syndicates will create a crisis of eggs and chickens. They will start increasing prices from June onwards. From August to November, the prices of eggs and chickens will increase severely. To overcome this situation, the government should protect poultry farmers.

According to information from the BPA, the highest death rate of chickens is in Narsingdi. In this region, almost 3 lakh chickens have died in the last 12 days, followed by 2 lakh in Mymensingh region, 75 thousand in the Chattogram region, 50 thousand in the Sylhet region, and 1 lakh chickens in Gazipur and Savar regions. Additionally, 1 lakh chickens have died in areas around Dhaka, as well as in Jashore, Pabna, Chuadanga, Meherpur, and other areas due to the intense heatwave.

Suman Hawlader, President of the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA), told The Daily Messenger, “One disaster after another is befalling the marginal poultry farmers”, adding, “Currently, there are 60-65 thousand marginal poultry farms in the country, along with 15-20 thousand associated farms. Many did not raise chicks this year compared to last year because the price of chicks was double. Those who bought chicks from corporate farms are now facing difficulties as their chickens are dying due to the intense heat, putting these poultry farmers in extreme distress. If this situation continues for a few more days, 15 to 20 thousand farms will be shut down again.”

The BPA President further said, “Marginal poultry farmers can never stock eggs. However, the corporate groups have started stockpiling eggs. Taking advantage of the situation, they will sell eggs at higher prices.”

According to BPA data, the daily demand for eggs is 4 crore pieces, while during normal times, 4.5 crore pieces are produced, which is more than the demand. However, due to the rise in temperature, only 3.80 crore pieces of eggs are being produced daily now. There is a daily shortage of 20 lakh eggs.

He said that on behalf of BPA, poultry farmers are being advised to take several measures to deal with the heatwave. The recommendations include ensuring proper air circulation in the sheds, keeping fewer chickens within the holding capacity, not using vitamin-based medicines in water, spraying water on the chickens' bodies, keeping wet jute bags on the shed roof and regularly pouring water on them, and stopping feeding during the afternoon hours.

Selim Bhuiyan, a poultry farmer from Sonargaon in Narayanganj, told The Daily Messenger that in the last two days of the heatwave, 300 out of 1,000 broiler chickens have died on his farm. He said, “I had 20 sheds. Now in 5 sheds, there were 4 thousand chickens, but due to sales and deaths, the number has come down to 700.”

Shahidul Alam Kabir, a poultry farmer from Narsingdi, told The Daily Messenger, “5-10 percent of his chickens have died in the last 12 days. Broiler chickens have died the most. To save the chickens from death, feeding has been stopped during the afternoon. Due to stopping the feed, 8-10 percent of the layer chickens have stopped laying eggs.

Saidul Islam, a poultry farmer from Mymensingh, has 2 lakh 25 thousand broiler chickens in 175 sheds. Due to the heatwave, 2,700-3,000 chickens are dying daily from heatstroke there. This large farm has 90 thousand layer chickens for egg production, where egg production has decreased by 5-7 percent daily due to the heat.

Small and large poultry farmers like Selim Bhuiyan, Shahidul Alam, and Saidul Islam are facing difficulties due to this heat. Every day, someone's chickens are dying, while others are not keeping chickens in the sheds out of fear. Some are even selling their chickens before reaching their targeted growth. On the other hand, egg production is decreasing as the chickens are eating less due to the heat.

Mohammad Farhad, a poultry farmer from Ghatail of Tangail, told The Daily Messenger, “The normal tolerable temperature for broiler chickens is 24-25 degrees Celsius. But now, the daytime temperature across the country is 38-42.6 degrees Celsius. In this situation, even with sufficient fan usage, the chickens cannot be saved from heatstroke. Both types of farms – those with generator facilities and those without – are facing problems due to the extreme temperature. This excessive heat cannot be countered by simply running fans. Only those establishments with controlled sheds are not facing this situation.”

The poultry farmers informed that some are selling off their chickens out of fear of them dying. For those who are not selling, the farms with larger-sized chickens are facing more problems. This is because the chickens are usually fed high-protein feed. When the weight of these chickens reaches 800-1,000 grams, they start accumulating fat. These chickens are at a higher risk of heatstroke.