MULTAN, Jan 23: The death of hundreds of thousands of chickens during the ongoing spell of cold wave has dealt a severe blow to the poultry industry in south Punjab which had already been in a difficult position.

The loss is being estimated at Rs80 million as experts say an upward of 200,000 birds have died in the last couple of days.

Malik Asghar, a poultry trader, told Dawn that the maximum mercury level dropped from 28 centigrade to 18 centigrade which caused death of a large number of birds, both broiler and layer.

Dr Jalil Abid said the fluctuation in the mercury level had led to the mortality of thousands of broiler birds in Khanewal, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Multan, Layyah, Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari, Rajanpur, Pakpattan and Sahiwal districts.

Malik Liaquat, another poultry farmer who suffered massive loss of birds, said mortality rose to about 1,000 out of a flock of 10,000 birds, all nine days old. The poultry farmers suffered loss also on account of maintaining the temperatures suiting the bird requirement.

He said the farms located in the riverine belt and those near the canals or canal-fed areas were the worst-hit because of chill.

Dr Aslam Baloch, a poultry consultant, said the broiler birds were under critical weather pressure and the situation was deteriorating gradually. He said more heat units should be installed on the farms to control the temperatures.

He advised the farmers to keep on changing the litter on a daily basis to avoid unhygienic conditions for the birds.