DAY 0 - Preimmune Bleed, about 5ml of sera. Preimmune bleed is stored until the first immune bleed is sent.

Inject 200ug subcutaneous in Complete Freund's Adjuvant (FCA). Antigen supply should be 1mg/ml or higher.

DAY 14 - Inject 100ug subcutaneous in Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant (IFA)

DAY 28 - Inject 100ug subcutaneous with IFA.

DAY 42 - Bleed, about 5ml sera - This bleed will be sent to you along with the preimmune bleed.

DAY 60 - Start Collect Eggs - This package includes six immune eggs

DAY 70 - SELECT ONE OF THE THREE OPTIONS BELOW:

For CLOSED projects - Bleed at day 70 - chicken is then euthanized / discard (lowest cost). The bleed and collected eggs are then sent to you.

For CLOSED projects - The chicken is exsanguinated (final bleed) at day 70. The exsanguination sera and collected eggs are then sent to you.

For OPEN projects - This bleed is sent to you, along with the collected eggs.

AFTER DAY 70 FOR OPEN PROJECTS - You may select one of the project extensions below. If you do not specify a project extension, we will automatically begin Extension A. Keep in mind that all procedures and maintenance after day 70 will be charged according to the Custom Polyclonal Antibody Production Price Schedule.

EXTENSION A: We will boost every four weeks with 25-50ug of antigen subcutaneous with IFA. We will do a large bleed two weeks after each boost and ship. We will continue to boost and bleed every four weeks until you contact us.

EXTENSION B: When the antisera contains sufficient antibody titer and large volumes of sera are needed, we can start production bleeds. We do production bleeds every seven days. We will continue with production bleeds until you contact us or the health of the chicken requires us to stop production bleeds. The volume of serum collected for large or production bleeds depends on the weight and the general health of the guinea pig. We generally take 10 to 15ml of blood yielding about 5ml of serum. During this time, we boost the chickens every four weeks with 25-50ug of antigen subcutaneous with IFA. You may also request that we not do any boosts after the initial immunization scheme outlined above since some antigens and some animals may respond negatively to boosts during the period of peak antibody activity. Boosts may be required only when titer drops. It is up to the investigator to decide and let us know if we should discontinue boosts as our standard schedule provides for boosts every 28 days. Shipping for production bleeds is every four weeks unless you request otherwise.

EXTENSION C: Some investigators prefer to "wait and see." after day 70. Extension C is hold without boosting and bleeding. We will hold until you tell us to do something else.

EGGS: Immune eggs can be collected anytime during the protocol. The investigator must request that eggs be collected during any of the project extension phases. Keep in mind that there is a charge for collecting, storing, and separating the yolks for shipment. The egg collection fee can be waived if PRF&L does any egg purification service on the collected eggs.

TERMINATION: When you have collected enough antisera, you will need to contact us to terminate the project. You may request that we terminate by:
1. Exsanguination - termination with sera - the chicken is anesthetized and the terminal bleed is taken. For best results, chickens should be boosted 10 to 21 days before exsanguination.
2. Discard - termination without sera - the chicken is humanely euthanized.

When requesting termination, you must confirm the species and animal number. Written confirmation by email may be requested for terminal procedures.

CUSTOM EXTENSION: You may design your own project extension. Let us know what we can do for you!