THE POULTRY Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State chapter, has predicted over 50 per cent bird mortality rate, if the hot weather persists.
The chairman, PAN Lagos, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
Iyiola noted that due to the rising temperature and heat wave, farmers across the state were losing high number of birds.
“It is true that we are witnessing a lot of mortality due to the consistent hot temperature.
“Heat always causes mortality among birds. Due to the rise in temperature, the birds stop feeding by 11.00 a.m. Once we feed them in the morning, they refuse to eat afterwards because of the heat.
“They just continue drinking water and when the heat persists, they also refuse to drink water due to the hotness of the water.
“The birds begin panting due to thirst, raise their wings to conserve air in-between their wings but that does not solve the problem,” Iyiola said.
According to him, the panting persists and makes some of the birds to lay their eggs prematurely. When this happens, it causes serious problems in the metabolism of the bird.
“In the process of struggling to lay eggs, the birds’ anus protrudes. For this reason we usually experience high mortality.
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“Due to the low feed, the birds’ energy depletes and sometimes the eggs get stuck in their anus, which in turn causes prolapse and ultimately death.
“Most times we see the eggs hang between their pelvic and anus when the birds die due to lack of strength to lay eggs,” the PAN chair said.
He urged local poultry farmers to take the necessary precautions to prevent high mortality of their birds, pending when the weather improves.
“It is a serious problem in the sector, so we usually feed them early to reduce the mortality rate. We also put ice blocks in their water to reduce the effect of heat.
“If all precautions are not taken, farmers can lose likely half of their flock due to the heat wave.
“We urge farmers to take the necessary precautions, feed their birds early, and keep their water cool. We are grateful, that we are getting out of the heat, with the rains beginning to fall gradually,” he said. (NAN)
