I stay away
For the majority the young bird disease became kind of normal.
Every season they were just waiting for an outbreak of the infection. The birds of some, among even the greatest champions, were and still are even infected three times a year.Getting problems is the rule, people that are spared are the exception.
DIFFERENT
For me this year is different, though, at least in the Dutch loft. It started some days ago with 2 babies. Some days later it was a handful, of nearly 40. These birds are less spirited, do not storm outside the loft when released, let alone tumbling through the air as the loft mates do. I do not see it really as a big problem and know how I can get them back on track quickly with an antibiotic. But I stay away from it. First, it is obviously wrong to also cure healthy birds. Secondly I fear that I would end up like many others and would have to medicate again and again year after year. What I could do is put the less healthy babies in another loft and cure only them but prefer to treat my babies all the same. So I let them among the healthy ones in the same loft. As long as it is limited to some babies only, there is little to worry about. What I absolutely do not do is look from which parents I bred those less healthy elements. Then I would not be neutral anymore and I would be tempted to cure still.
In my opinion many intervene too quickly.
A good bird in my loft. But to win races good birds is not good enough.
OTHER STORY
It would be quite another story if an infection would break out just before or during the racing season. Or when ALL my birds would be infected. In such a case one should cure IMMEDIATELY when you see the first symptoms.
WHY
Why I have this LITTLE problem this year only and never before? I really do not know. Because I imported other birds maybe? I even imported more birds in my Belgian loft. And in that loft are no problems.
SO FAR.
What I want to say is this: Stay away from medicine as much as possible. Medicating healthy birds is asking for problems on a longer term.