Chicken egg antibodies for prophylaxis and therapy of infectious intestinal diseases. III. In vivo tenacity test in piglets with artificial jejunal fistula

Large quantities of specific egg antibodies can be produced with little effort by immunization of laying hens. Several antibody containing egg preparations were subjected to a tenacity test against digestive activity taking piglets with artificial jejunum fistulas as a model. Even with high doses of orally administered yolk lyophilisate no antibody activity could be found in the distal jejunum. The additional feeding of egg white, however, showed a significant protective effect on the yolks antibodies during the digestive act. No difference between egg white of immunized hens and egg white of unimmunized hens could be detected. Buffering the acidic gastric environment with sodium bicarbonate increased the antibody activity in the intestine by an average of 40%. Eggs administered in hot (70 degrees C) beef stock had higher antibody titers than eggs that were boiled for 4 minutes. Tenacity in antibodies fed in pellets was significantly lower than in powdered feed.