Source:  MEATINGPLACE, 7/13/11

Extreme heat has caused poultry flock fatalities from North Carolina to Kansas, according to local media reports.

In North Carolina, about 50,000 of Pilgrim’s Pride broiler chickens died after a 45-minute power outage during a heat wave in Johnston County, N.C., Pilgrim's spokesman Gary Rhodes confirmed to Meatingplace.

The contract grower lost less than half of the birds on his farm, Rhodes said, adding Pilgrim's contacted the state veterinarian and had a broiler manager at the site on Tuesday.

A family turkey farm in Kansas lost 4,300 birds as temperatures reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the state, according to local media reports.

A spokesman for the National Chicken Council said the advent of air-tunnel ventilation systems in poultry buildings has minimized heat-related losses in the industry in recent years.