[Relation between the dietary proteins in animal feed and agglutinin formation in chickens infected with Salmonella gallinarum pullorum].

Experiments were carried out with birds of the Leghorn and Cornish breeds, aged 2, 45, and 120 days and divided into two groups: I--birds given standard mixtures, and II--birds fed mixtures with a higher content of proteins. Both groups were infected with Salmonella gallinarum pullorum. At given intervals of time after that the chickens were bled, and their agglutinin titer was determined by the agglutination reaction. It was found that agglutinin production in all birds correlated with the amount of proteins in the feed. Lower amounts of proteins in the diet led to delayed agglutinin production in the infected birds. The agglutinin titers were shown to be considerably lower than those in birds given a normal ration. This was better expressed with Cornish birds. Birds at the age of 45 days proved to particularly sensitive to the fluctuations in the level of dietary proteins.