Sweltering Heatwave Ravages Indian Poultry Farms

When the mercury nudged past 45 °C (113 °F) in parts of eastern and western India last week, the impact was more than just sweaty commuters and cracked roads. Inside countless poultry houses, the heat turned into an unforgiving oven, and dozens of chickens began to collapse, their tiny bodies unable to cope with the relentless furnace.

Farmers in Odisha were the first to raise the alarm. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Ramesh Patel, who runs a medium‑size farm near Bhubaneswar. “The birds stopped eating, started panting, and within hours many fell dead.” His co‑ops, typically designed for moderate climates, suddenly became death traps. Ventilation fans sputtered, electricity cuts were frequent, and the cost of running extra cooling equipment shot up beyond what many smallholders can afford.

Not long after, similar stories emerged from Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region and Kerala’s coastal districts. In Maharashtra, where heatwaves are becoming a seasonal norm, a cooperative of 15 farms reported a 30 % mortality rate in a single week. In Kerala, the situation felt oddly surreal – the state known for its monsoons and greenery now grappling with a summer that feels more like a desert.

The numbers are sobering. Preliminary estimates from the National Poultry Association suggest that roughly 1.2 million birds may have perished across the three states, translating to a loss of about ₹450 crore (≈ US$60 million) in revenue. For many families, especially those who rely on a single broiler shed for their livelihood, the financial blow could be irreversible.

Experts point to climate change as the underlying driver. Dr. Ananya Ghosh, a climatologist at the Indian Institute of Science, explains, “These extreme temperature spikes are not isolated events. They’re part of a broader pattern of erratic weather that’s becoming more frequent and intense.” She adds that the poultry sector is especially vulnerable because birds have a narrow thermal comfort zone, and even a few degrees above that can cause stress, reduced feed intake, and ultimately death.

Meanwhile, animal welfare groups are calling for immediate action. The Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) has urged state governments to declare a temporary emergency, allowing farmers to access subsidies for emergency cooling systems and to waive electricity tariffs for critical periods. “We can’t keep treating heatwaves as a ‘natural disaster’ that farmers have to face alone,” said SPA spokesperson Meera Joshi.

In the meantime, some innovative solutions are emerging. A start‑up in Hyderabad is piloting solar‑powered evaporative coolers specifically designed for poultry houses, promising lower operating costs and a smaller carbon footprint. In Odisha, a few progressive farmers are experimenting with shade netting and insulated roofing materials, hoping to buffer the interior temperature without relying solely on electricity.

But these measures need time, investment, and most importantly, policy support. As the monsoon season looms, there is a sliver of hope that the rains will bring respite, yet the lingering question remains: How prepared is India’s agricultural backbone for the next heatwave?

For now, the chickens are silent witnesses to a warming world, and the farmers, left to pick up the pieces, are urging authorities to recognize that climate resilience is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.