How are common diseases of Silkie chickens diagnosed? With a detailed explanation of rearing methods
1. Newcastle disease (fowl pest) [Diagnosis] Sick chickens are listless, have reduced appetite, elevated body temperature, tremors, head tilted backward, opisthotonus, and circular movement, etc. 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 Newcastle disease strain II vaccine by nasal or eye drops; at 28 days of age, the vaccine is administered once more; at 50 to 60 days of age, Newcastle disease strain I vaccine is injected intramuscularly. If the disease breaks out suddenly, Newcastle disease strain I vaccine should immediately be injected intramuscularly. If the disease breaks out suddenly, Newcastle disease strain I vaccine should immediately be injected intramuscularly at 1 to 3 times the dose.
2. Fowl cholera [Diagnosis] The peracute 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. When the disease occurs, 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; they quickly develop into scab-like small nodules, gradually becoming button-shaped; after peeling off the dry pseudomembrane on the surface, a porridge-like or honeycomb-like hemorrhagic lesion and ulcer are revealed. The larynx is most easily affected and blocked, causing difficulty inhaling and a whistling or groaning sound; death often occurs because the bird cannot eat or drink. [Treatment] Fowl pox vaccine is pricked into the wing web, which can be done at the same time as vaccination with Newcastle disease strain II vaccine at 7 to 8 days of age. Sick chickens are fed gentian violet solution.
4. Aspergillosis [Diagnosis] Sick chickens drool, have diarrhea, foul-smelling droppings, become exhausted, have swollen eyes, elevated body temperature, and sometimes paralysis. [Treatment] Do not feed moldy feed; strictly clean and disinfect the incubator, feeding tools, and site; frequently change the litter; and adhere to the "all in, all out" brooding method. When chickens develop the disease, administer a laxative orally, give 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 blood-streaked or entirely bloody droppings that are brownish-red or fresh blood; severe cases die. [Treatment] Properly clean and disinfect the chicken coop, feed troughs, and water troughs; promptly remove droppings; and keep the coop dry. Mix robenidine into the feed, or feed with clopidol mixed into the feed; stop 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 the area around the vent is often blocked by white droppings; sick chicks often make sharp cries. [Treatment] Various tools and the site must be strictly disinfected, treated with formalin solution or fumigated. Feed furazolidone mixed into the feed; feed compound sulfaquinoxaline mixed into the feed according to the feed ratio. As for antibiotics, chloramphenicol can be mixed into the feed.