Objective In order to screen effective traditional Chinese medicine compounds to prevent and control porcine respiratory disease syndrome (PRDC), seven compound preparations of traditional Chinese medicine were tested and to analyze their antitussive and expectorant effects in mice. Methods Two hundred 6-week old ICR mice (male：female=1：1) were used in this study. Dextromethorphan and ammonium chloride were used as positive control drugs, and physiological saline was used as blank control. The antitussive and expectorant effects of the seven Chinese medicine compounds (groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) were observed by ammonia-induced cough model and tracheal phenol red secretion method in mice. Results The results showed that compounds 7 and 5 significantly prolonged the cough incubation period (P< 0.05), and reduced the cough times within 5 min (P < 0.05). Except for the group 4, tracheal phenol red excretion in the other groups was significantly lower than that of blank control group (P <0.05), and phenol red excretion in the mice of groups 7, 5 and ammonium chloride group was significantly lower than that in other treatment groups (P <0.05). Conclusions The Chinese medicine compounds 5 and 7 show most evident expectorant effects, and worthy of further validation of them as a drug in the treatment of porcine respiratory disease syndrome.