Antibiotics and bacteria: Finding the right balance

Understanding the interplay between bird health, gut bacteria and antibiotics makes it clear reducing their use where possible is in everyone’s interest. Every gramme of feed a bird eats and every drop of water it drinks has at least a million bacteria on its surface. Each mouthful influences the huge colony of bacteria, known as the microbiome, that reside in the gut of humans and animals. We are also covered in innumerable bacteria, all interacting with one another and influencing a huge ran