Mar 27: INDIA - Adulterated poultry feed has flooded almost all the markets of the district, causing grave concern among the owners of hundreds of poultry farms of the district in recently times.
It is gathered that a section of dishonest businessmen are mixing adulterated and sub-standard staff with the husks of rice, oil cake, wheat, cockle dust and other poultry feed, and selling those in the open markets to earn windfall profits.
Intake of such feeds has caused various intestinal diseases, including diarrhoea, resulting in the death of a huge number of poultry every month, some owners said here.
According to a source, a poultry farm owner at Alkula village in Pabna sadar upazila recently bought a sack of poultry feed at a cost of Tk. 550 from Atikula Bazar. After consumption of the feed at least 40 hens died instantly due to reaction of the poisonous poultry feed.
In nine upazilas of Pabna district, there are at least 750 poultry farms with over one-lakh poultry, it is learnt from the local Poultry Owners Association.
Moreover, there are about 70 duck farms in the district where there are over 2,000 ducks. Besides, rural people keep a number of poultry in their houses for consumption and for eggs.
The number of hens and ducks will be at least 20 lakh, the sources said.
These huge quantities of poultry in the farms fully depend on the readymade local feed sold at the hats and bazars in the towns and village markets. At present, in every poultry farm hens and ducks have been suffering from various diseases.
Side by side, the prices of some poultry feed have registered a sharp rise in the markets affecting all the poultry and duck farms in all the upazilas of the district.
According to a recent market survey, per kg of maize and wheat dust is being sold at Taka 20 as against Tk. 14.50, cockle dust is being sold at Taka 12.50 to Taka 46 as against Tk. 38 and dry fish dust is being sold at Tk. 50 as against Tk. 40 in the local markets within a one month.
The prices of other poultry feed such as oil cake have also shot up by Tk. 5 to Tk. 7 per kg. In this situation, per hali (four) eggs is being sold at Tk. 15 in the local markets.
Informed sources, however, said during the last two months ending on March 18, at least 10 to 12 percent poultry numbering about 400 died in various farms here due to consumption of adulterated and poisonous feed, while 10 to 15 per cent due to malnutrition and other diseases.
The percentage of death rose up to 40 when another five per cent poultry died of pneumonia, as the poultry could not be saved from cold wave and hot weather in the recent past.
Frequent failure of electricity hampered the maintenance of requisite temperature in the farms. Chickens are the worst victims of frequent power failure in the district.
Meanwhile, sharp rise in the prices of preventive medicines and poultry feed have affected hundreds of poultry farms in the district.
