Naked stripe abdomen

[bocaschicks]

I've had chickens while living in Arkansas. Had very few problems. Certainly none that were serious. I'm currently living on an island on the Caribbean side of Panama. I have 9 hens about six months old. They've been laying for about two months now. (Seems early, but my best calculations) I lost one about six weeks ago. All my reading leads me to believe it may have been due to Merek's. I am not sure of the quality of feed here. If I ask for chick food, I get powder. If I ask for layers food, I get a mix of mostly corn. If I ask for just chicken food, I get whole corn. So I am feeding them powder chick food. I supplement them as a treat with layer food that I ferment. I also add ACV to their water as well as poly vi flor (no iron). I also offer them oats, rice, fruits and veggies, but they are not interested in produce at all. They love the fermented grains! I also will give them cooked egg for protein and add their pulverized egg shells in with their food to which I also add powdered garlic on occasion.
I have one girl (Gigi) who started limping during the time I was experiencing possible Merek's which was the initial symptom. Gigi has not shown any further symptoms but still limps. I'm fine with that. A couple others I think I notice they breathe like they may be congested. But no other symptoms. Now I've noticed that many of them have a stripe of bareness on their abdomen from breast to bum. Otherwise they seem healthy. They're not thin or ill looking. I just don't know what is happening or what else to do for them. A vet is not really an option as the locals do not value chickens as pets but as mere livestock that are usually just on their own to fend. So it's me and my girls against the jungle. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I've had chickens while living in Arkansas. Had very few problems. Certainly none that were serious. I'm currently living on an island on the Caribbean side of Panama. I have 9 hens about six months old. They've been laying for about two months now. (Seems early, but my best calculations) I lost one about six weeks ago. All my reading leads me to believe it may have been due to Merek's. I am not sure of the quality of feed here. If I ask for chick food, I get powder. If I ask for layers food, I get a mix of mostly corn. If I ask for just chicken food, I get whole corn. So I am feeding them powder chick food. I supplement them as a treat with layer food that I ferment. I also add ACV to their water as well as poly vi flor (no iron). I also offer them oats, rice, fruits and veggies, but they are not interested in produce at all. They love the fermented grains! I also will give them cooked egg for protein and add their pulverized egg shells in with their food to which I also add powdered garlic on occasion.
I have one girl (Gigi) who started limping during the time I was experiencing possible Merek's which was the initial symptom. Gigi has not shown any further symptoms but still limps. I'm fine with that. A couple others I think I notice they breathe like they may be congested. But no other symptoms. Now I've noticed that many of them have a stripe of bareness on their abdomen from breast to bum. Otherwise they seem healthy. They're not thin or ill looking. I just don't know what is happening or what else to do for them. A vet is not really an option as the locals do not value chickens as pets but as mere livestock that are usually just on their own to fend. So it's me and my girls against the jungle. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated.

If they appear to be sickly, start them on some tylan50 at least once a day---oral is fine. 1 ml in the back of the throat---do this a few days and see if they perk up.

The chicken feed that looks like ground corn probably has a supplement mixed----ask your supplier what the protein % is---if around 15/16% I would not be giving them alot of other higher protein % feeds. Good Luck

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. What symptoms did you see that made you suspect Mareks? Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be common in poultry, especially if you don't know what is in the feed. If you go to the search box at the top of this page and enter "mixing your own feed" there will be a page or two of theeads how others mix their own from whole grains, and meat or fish meal can be added to increase protein. Do they sell any type of gamebird feed? That can contain a good amount of protein, but you only want to use about 16-20% protein maximum, and have a balanced feed. Is rhere any way you can mail order feed or have someone send it to you?

 

[bocaschicks]

I will try to find out the protein content.
The symptoms I saw in my deceased girl started with a limp that progressed to walking difficulty to extreme difficulty. Her crop area was swollen, but no sour breath. And finally all was accompanied by labored breathing. All symptoms worsened rather quickly until she succumbed. I had isolated her, warm bathed her, checked for bound egg and sour crop. Everything I could find about her symptoms seemed negative for any possible ailments. The best fit seems like Merek's. I would LOVE to be wrong about that because I can only assume if it was Merek's, then the rest have the virus and I'll probably lose more/most.
I'm not sure about getting gamebird feed here. I will look.
Ordering feed to be shipped down here is possible, but very expensive ($13/kg). I might be able to find a work around tho. I will look into hat today too.
I will also be checking the threads on mixing my own. I should at least be able to supplement the feed I have here.
I agree that the mostly corn feed contained added vitamins, etc..., but it just seems like a lot of corn and I swear they got a bit obese while I was feeding it to them. This is what I'm using now as scratch and the fermented treat.
My Arkansas Chickens loved their scratch grains which we gave a couple handfuls as a treat once or twice a day, but they didn't eat their regular food like they were starving. Like I filled their feeder once a week. These Panama girls won't leave the feeder as long as there is food in it. They just eat and eat. So I'm rationing that. They whine a little, but eventually will go out bug hunting. As I've said they LOOK healthy.
Thanks guys. I'll let you know what I find out.