BHUBANESWAR: A traditional Indian wedding procession with pumping music, fireworks, dancing and a marching brass band in shiny jackets has been blamed for the death of 63 chickens.

Ranjit Kumar Parida said the party was blasting out “ear-splitting noise” as it passed his poultry farm in the eastern state of Odisha shortly before midnight on Sunday.

“I asked the band operators to lower the volume as the music was too noisy and terrifying the chickens. But they did not listen and the groom’s friends shouted at me,” Parida said.

A vet told Parida the chickens had died of a heart attack, and he filed a police complaint after the wedding organisers refused to pay compensation.

Zoology professor Suryakanta Mishra, who has authored a book on animal behaviour, told the Hindustan Times that loud noise increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in birds.

“Chickens are governed by a circadian rhythm that is controlled by the natural light/dark cycle of day and night.

“Sudden excitement or stress due to loud music could disrupt their biological clock,” Mishra said.

The story had a happy ending — except for the chickens — after police convinced the warring parties to “solve the matter mutually”.

“We have not initiated any action as (the poultry farmer) withdrew the complaint,” police official Droupadi Das said.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2021