A total of 3,000 hens in a farm in Thakurgaon sadar upazila died over the last two days, after the owner fed them a medicine suggested by a representative of a pharmaceutical company.
The incident occurred at Mominul Haque’s poultry farm at Munsipara village.
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Sixteen-hundred hens died on Saturday and another 1480 on Sunday, after receiving a dose of the medicine Tamowet, recommended by one Mahabub, a representative of FNF Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said Haque.
He said Mahabub suggested the cold medicine and he gave it to 4,000 Sonali breed hens of his farm on Friday, at a cost of Tk 16,000.
Mominul said within a few days he would have sold the hens, but now he has suffered a loss of Tk 6 lakh.
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When contacted, Mahabub, the accused pharmaceutical representative, said that the hens may have died due to an overdose and it’s not his fault.
However, Dr Al Mamun, veterinary doctor who was called in after the incident, said the antibiotic medicine suggested by Mahabub is for Layer breeds of chicken, not the Sonali breed, and that may have caused the adverse reaction and deaths.