Unprecedented heat wave kills millions of chickens in France

 

Map:  BBC

Headline:  New York Times 7/7/2026

Chico Harlan and Léontine Gallois report:

Even slow-growing chickens that roam outdoors, like those kept by the Renaudiers, are susceptible. But the broiler chickens developed by large-scale industry, which can reach full size in just five weeks, have an additional disadvantage because their fast-burning metabolism leaves them running hot. The end result: An animal that has been perfectly engineered to satisfy the demand for lean, affordable meat is poorly suited for a warming world.  [emphasis added]

Rising temperatures from climate change pose significant challenges for agriculture. For the poultry industry, it’s a “large-scale issue,” as one study put it, and it reflects how food systems that most take for granted can be jeopardized by extreme heat. In 2015, a stretch of scorching days in India killed an estimated 17 million chickens and caused prices to rise at grocery stores. A 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest led to 400,000 reported deaths among chickens and 60,000 among turkeys. 

And then came the blistering late June stretch in France. 

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