UNB, Kurigram :
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 say that not only heatstroke, but the heat has caused diarrhea in broiler chickens, and they’re dying miserable deaths.
Despite giving them medicine, nothing seems to be working, they said.
The Livestock Department has advised farmers to wet the roof of the farms to prevent heatstroke.
However, despite the increased risk of heatstroke in summer, farmers have not yet approached the department about such problems. The department is running a campaign on social media to raise awareness about how to avoid heatstroke.
According to the district Animal Resources Department, there are 1,432 layer, broiler, and golden chicken farms in 9 upazilas of the district, with 174 registered broiler chicken farms and 1,019 unregistered ones.
