They were meant to die, just not like this. At a farm in northwestern France, 1,500 chickens perished in a single shed on June 23 during the country’s hottest stretch on record, leaving farm owner Isabelle Renaudier with a third of her flock dead just 19 days before scheduled slaughter.
Extreme heat threatens most livestock, but chickens are especially vulnerable because they cannot sweat and are covered in feathers. When ambient temperatures climb, birds pant to cool down, a process that rapidly dehydrates them and depletes energy reserves.
Even slower‑growing, free‑range birds like those raised by the Renaudiers are at risk. Modern broiler chickens, engineered for rapid weight gain in about five weeks, possess a high metabolism that generates additional internal heat, making them poorly suited to a warming climate.
Heat‑related mortality is not a new phenomenon for the global poultry sector. A 2015 heat wave in India killed an estimated 17 million chickens, while a 2021 event in the Pacific Northwest caused 400,000 chicken deaths and 60,000 turkey deaths. The June 2023 episode in France mirrors these earlier crises.
Temperatures above 105 °F struck western France’s poultry‑producing regions, prompting officials to declare “massive die offs.” The animal‑rendering company that collects dead livestock reported a sharp rise in poultry submissions—roughly ten times the normal volume—far surpassing increases in pigs and cows.
According to Yann Nédélec, director of Anvol (a poultry‑industry association), an estimated 2.5–3 million birds died, primarily chickens, in an event described as “of historic intensity.” Even after temperatures fell, mortality remained elevated, and farmers confronted staggering financial losses, insurance claims, and the emotional toll of failing to deliver healthy birds for market.
Some producers, such as Christian Delavaud, had invested in high‑capacity fans and misting systems, only to see the equipment fail during the heat wave. Reduced municipal water pressure disabled misting, and a turkey shed recorded temperatures of 107 °F. Carcasses were moved to cold storage, where they heated the facilities, forcing the farmer to dig mass graves.
Delavaud described the experience as “unbearable,” and other farmers echoed similar struggles. The 2003 French heat wave had already killed 4–5 million poultry birds, accounting for about 2 % of the national flock. Critics note that while human heat‑adaptation policies have advanced, livestock resilience measures lag behind.
Current mitigation strategies—such as misting fans, reflective roofing, vitamin supplementation, and the use of heat‑tolerant breeds like the naked‑neck chicken—are deemed helpful but not foolproof. Experts warn that solutions such as air‑conditioning remain cost‑ineffective. Some observations suggest that the smallest, warmer‑dependent chicks survived better, though overall patterns were inconsistent.
In response, several farmers plan operational shifts. Sylvia Goisbault, who lost 14 of her 700 birds, intends to adjust the grow‑out calendar to avoid summer slaughter. The Renaudiers have also indicated they will consider changes, though specifics are not yet finalized.
The surviving 2,800 chickens at the Renaudier farm are 10 days from slaughter and appear to have stabilized, though weight gain was slower during the heat wave. “Unless there is another heat wave,” Renaudier said, “they may still recover.”
