"Our sector is on the verge of destruction now. We can’t seem to stop counting the losses," said Moshiur Rahman, convenor of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee (BPICC), a group of six associations in the poultry sector.

The Daily Star reports that as things work in the poultry industry, the production of day-old chicks, eggs and broiler chicken takes place on a daily basis and they have to be shipped on the same day, as the farms lack the storage and preservation facilities. "We have no other option but to kill the day-old chicks and destroy the eggs if we cannot send them out on the day."

But the recent wave of shutdowns and blockades means the regimented process has severely been disrupted.

Blockades and shutdowns are forcing poultry farmers to destroy around 14-20 lakh day-old chicks every week and around 3.15 crore eggs worth Tk 20.47 crore, according to Rahman, also the president of Breeders Association of Bangladesh.

Aftab Bahumukhi Farms, one of the major poultry companies, has to destroy around two lakh day-old chicks per week. The company has incurred net losses of around Tk 15 crore over the last two months, said Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar, its managing director.

MM Khan, secretary general of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said the blockades and shutdowns have increased the farmers’ operating cost by 20 per cent due to higher transport fares.

Desperate, the farmers are now paying higher transport fares and slashing down prices, just to keep their business afloat.

The farmers are now offering Tk 70-80 for each kg of broiler chicken, the lowest in five years, when the production cost is Tk 110-120, the BPICC convenor said.

The price of a day-old chick also fell by a half. The minimum production cost is Tk 35, but it is now selling at Tk 15-20.

At the retail level, the scenario, however, is completely the opposite. Retailers are charging Tk 30-32 for four pieces of eggs, which was Tk 26-28 about two weeks ago, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

The poultry industry accounts for four per cent of the gross domestic product. The country has six grandparent stock farms, 60-70 parent stock farms and hatcheries and 70,000 poultry farms. The sector has so far invested around Tk 25,000 crore.