INFLUENCE OF ANTIGEN CONCENTRATION, INOCULATION INTERVAL, NUMBER OF EXPOSURES, TYPE OF HOUSING, AND PLACEMENT CONCENTRATION ON THE TEAR ANTIBODY-RESPONSE TO BRUCELLA-ABORTUS IN CHICKENS

A series of trials was run in leghorn chicks to examine select conditions affecting the tear antibody response to killed Brucella abortus antigen given by eyedrop administration. Specific conditions examined were concentration of antigen, number of antigen exposures, and interval between antigen exposures. Trials were also run to determine the earliest age at which the assay was functional in both broilers and leghorns. Two types of housing (isolators and battery cages) were examined, as were two levels of placement concentration, or bird density (0.32 and 0.64 ft.2[0.03 and 0.06 m2]/chicken). All trials included intraperitoneally inoculated chicks as a comparison; tears as well as serum were assayed for antibodies. Of the various antigen regimens evaluated, two exposures of 20% B. abortus given 3 days apart was found to give a satisfactory antibody response in the tears 1 week later. Furthermore, response to B. abortus was found to be somewhat proportional to age, with the minimum age for a satisfactory response being 3 weeks in leghorns or 4 weeks in broilers. Statistically, there were no differences in antibody responses due to the types of housing or levels of placement used.