Responses of chickens to Streptococcus faecalis: genotype-housing interactions

Hens from lines selected for high and low juvenile body weight were maintained in single-bird wire cages or in litter-floor flocks and inoculated intravenously with Streptococcus faecalis. Responses to the inoculation, as measured by changes in body weight, plasma xanthophyll levels, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios, and mortality, were more severe in the high-body-weight line than the low-body-weight line. The effect of cage vs. floor housing varied according to genetic line. Responses of individuals to Str. faecalis could not be predicted from either plasma xanthophyll levels or numbers of heterophils and lymphocytes before inoculation. Diagnosis of field outbreaks would be difficult, because autopsies performed 14 days after inoculation revealed no lesions, and liver swabs positive for Str. faecalis were rare.