Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Cleaning seed feeders

Spring is here and it is time to get your feeders ready for the busy Spring and Summer bird season!
Decomposing and moldy seeds and hulls that accumulate on the feeder trays can make your birds sick. In addition to bird droppings on and around the feeders can spread infectious bird diseases. Experts say that you should clean your feeder every other week and more often in with heavy usage or in wet weather (which increases the mold problem). To clean your feeder, was it thoroughly in hot soapy water. If there have been reports of salmonella in your area, or you have notices sick birds, soak your feeder in one part bleach to nine parts of water. Make sure to rinse well to remove the bleach. Make sure the feeder is completely dry before filling it up again.

You also need to clean up the area below the feeders to remove the build up of hulls, uneaten seeds and other waste. Not only is this unhealthy for your birds, but it can cause you a rodent problem.

Happy feeding!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess I never really thought about cleaning the feeders unless they were really dirty. But, this makes sense. Thanks for the article!