Poultry farmers in Taltali upazila of Barguna say severe load shedding over the past several days is killing their birds. At Rafi Poultry Farm in Chhotabagi Bazar, farmer Rafiq Mia said 190 chicks died on Tuesday night; he puts the loss at about Tk 13,300.

Rafiq Mia said the power came and went through the night but was on for only about four hours in total. Without electricity he could not run the lamps that keep newly arrived chicks warm, and he had no alternative source of heat; in the morning he found 190 chicks dead.

Sanjay Kumar Sikder, sub-assistant livestock officer for Taltali, said newly arrived chicks must be kept at a set temperature, but that chicks can also die of excessive cold, brooding problems, poor ventilation, dehydration, reduced feed intake or disease; the real cause will be clear once the dead chicks are examined.

Md Motahar Uddin, assistant general manager (operations and maintenance) at the Taltali sub-zonal office of Patuakhali Palli Bidyut Samity, said the upazila needs about 5 to 5.5 megawatts but is being allocated about 2.5 to 3 megawatts, so load shedding has to be applied area by area. In such a shortfall, he said, poultry farmers should keep an alternative heat source ready for their chicks.

Reported by Krishi Shomoy's Barguna correspondent. Source: Krishi Shomoy