Diagnosis and Prevention Methods for Common Diseases in Silkie Chickens

1. Newcastle disease (fowl plague)

[Diagnosis] Sick chickens are listless, have reduced appetite, elevated body temperature, trembling, head tilted backward, opisthotonus, and circular movements. Difficulty breathing, drooping wings, greenish watery droppings, death after 2 to 3 days, with a relatively high mortality rate.

[Treatment] At 7 to 8 days of age, chicks are given the Newcastle disease strain II vaccine by nasal or eye drops, at 28 days of age the vaccine is administered once more, and at 50 to 60 days of age the Newcastle disease strain I vaccine is injected intramuscularly. If the disease occurs suddenly, immediately use the Newcastle disease strain I vaccine by intramuscular injection. If the disease occurs suddenly, immediately use the Newcastle disease strain I vaccine at 1 to 3 times the dose by intramuscular injection.

2. Fowl cholera

[Diagnosis] The most acute form shows no obvious symptoms and sudden death. The acute form shows elevated body temperature, listlessness, reduced appetite, frequent drinking, and yellow to green diarrhea.

[Treatment] Regular injection of fowl cholera aluminum hydroxide formaldehyde vaccine for prevention. For affected birds, feed oxytetracycline or chloramphenicol or compound sulfaquinoxaline, or inject penicillin and streptomycin intramuscularly.

3. Fowl pox

[Diagnosis] Pale yellow or grayish-white blister-like small spots appear on the comb, wattles, corners of the beak, eyelids, back of the head, skin, around the cloaca on the legs, and the larynx, quickly developing into scab-like small nodules, gradually taking on a button-like shape; after peeling off the dry pseudomembrane on the surface, porridge-like or honeycomb-like hemorrhagic lesions and ulcers are revealed. The larynx is most easily affected and blocked, causing difficulty inhaling, producing a whistling or groaning sound, and death often results because the bird cannot eat or drink.

[Treatment] Fowl pox vaccine is administered by piercing the wing web, and this can be done at the same time as the Newcastle disease strain II vaccination at 7 to 8 days of age. Sick chickens are fed methyl violet solution.

4. Aspergillosis

[Diagnosis] Sick chickens drool, have diarrhea, foul-smelling droppings, exhaustion, swollen eyes, elevated body temperature, and sometimes paralysis.

[Treatment] Do not feed moldy feed; strictly clean and disinfect incubators, feeding tools, and sites; frequently change bedding; and adhere to the "all in, all out" brooding method. When chickens are affected, administer laxatives orally, provide tannic acid solution or sodium sulfate solution as drinking water, and feed nystatin in the feed.

5. Coccidiosis

[Diagnosis] Sick chickens eat less or stop eating, have drooping wings, closed eyes, and droppings containing blood or consisting entirely of blood, appearing brownish-red or as fresh blood; severe cases die.

[Treatment] Keep the chicken coop, feed troughs, and water troughs clean and disinfected, promptly remove droppings, and keep the coop dry. Mix robenidine into the feed, or feed with clopidol mixed into the feed, stopping use 5 days before slaughter. Use furazolidone for prevention.

6. Pullorum disease in chicks

[Diagnosis] Chicks are afraid of cold and huddle together, have complete loss of appetite, diarrhea, and white droppings often blocking around the vent; affected chicks often emit sharp cries.

[Treatment] All tools and sites must be strictly disinfected, treated with formalin solution or fumigated. Feed furazolidone mixed into the feed; feed compound sulfaquinoxaline mixed into the feed. As for antibiotics, chloramphenicol can be mixed into the feed.