The age-dependent size distribution of chicken peripheral blood cells analyzed by a novel method utilizing a coulter counter

Abstract

In a dilute solution of Tris-buffered ammonium chloride (TAC), chicken erythrocytes (RBC) swell but chicken white blood cells (WBC) do not. This allowed us to separate the peaks of RBC and WBC into widely separate channels using a Coulter Counter interfaced to a microcomputer to provide size distributions. Analyses of buffy coat by this technique were carried out on Brown Leghorn chickens from 1 to 21 weeks after hatching. The WBC population, which is chiefly composed of peripheral blood lymphocytes, increased in number from 2 to 7 weeks after hatching, but decreased in size continuously up to the end of the experiment at 21 weeks. The RBC count increased from 2 to 5 weeks after hatching and the size decreased up to 5 weeks after hatching, thereafter remaining constant.