When do I clean feeders? (1 Viewer)

Hi all,
I've just put out some feeders two weeks ago. It's the first time I've started feeding my garden birds. Had loads of success. I've been told to cleam them regularly. How often is regularly? They've been out for a fortnight and I've filled them every other day and have cleaned them once with warm water. They have seed catchers underneath and I usually just brush the excess seed off when I fill them. Am I doing well or should I be doing more?
Also, should I wear gloves?
Much appreciated
Chris

Always a good thing to wear rubber gloves when cleaning for the birds.It's hard to say how often feeders should be cleaned.I do mine once a week and that seems to work for me.
Really pleased you have had so much success Chris. :flyaway:

Thanks Mary,
Once a week sounds good to me. By the way, what do you clean yours with. Just thought that I don't want to do any more harm than good.

Thanks
Chris

cbb said:

Thanks Mary,
Once a week sounds good to me. By the way, what do you clean yours with. Just thought that I don't want to do any more harm than good.

Thanks
Chris

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I use a jet wash Chris and clean my feeders with boiled water.I am concerned about bleaches etc and haven't had a problem in 20 years.
On saying that, many others use diluted bleach without problems too.

I clean mine the same, once a week, and I use Arklens and Gardenklens, available from any of the bird food and accessories suppliers really, and RSPB site as I recall. Anyway I just follow the RSPB guidelines really.

I do not actually take apart and clean the hanging feeders once a week, that I used to do monthly, fortnightly at the moment to be ultra cautious; but I do thoroughly clean the externals and the ground below using arklens, and a good powdering of gardenklens once a week.

Also, it is important not to take the feeders inside to clean, and to ensure that all your cleaning equipment is rinsed (gloves included) outside, so you do not carry in bird poo or suchlike, even if you do cleanse them more thoroughly inside afterwards. And hands, or splattered clothing ought to be washed thoroughly after.

I think, having read through the forum on this a few times, that this is what most folks do. I am watching the RSPB site in case they advise more should be done.

I must admit that I had not anticipated quite how much work went into feeding the garden birds when I started out. Would I still have done it, of course, but perhaps I would have made sure I knew a bit more first .... just to be prepared in advance.

Also, it is important not to take the feeders inside to clean, and to ensure that all your cleaning equipment is rinsed (gloves included) outside, so you do not carry in bird poo or suchlike, even if you do cleanse them more thoroughly inside afterwards. And hands, or splattered clothing ought to be washed thoroughly after.

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What do you do in the winter?

What do you do in the winter?

I get very cold

Winter here is not the snow-covered icebucket that is enjoyed in some places but I have been witnessed standing in the snow, sleet and rain washing down the feeding stations. So it is just the same ole, same ole, just in the cold.

It's dadgummed cold to clean them in the winter time, and I buy extra-large rubber gloves that I can wear over thin wool ones. :eek!: That is, after the sun's been up long enough to thaw the water in the garden hose so I can work outside.

Not familiar with UK commercial brand cleaners, but if they don't have a disinfectant in them, you probably should use a 10% bleach solution to kill all biological organisms. I rotate cleaning my feeders so the cleaned one(s) can thoroughly dry inside and out before re-hanging. I don't just use a brush on them, I soak them first for about 15 minutes in the solution so that all the little nooks and crannies a beak could fit into gets covered.

I also took another BF member's advice and stopped using the hanging sock for niger seed and went to a tube feeder instead. Much easier to keep clean. :t:

Hi
On my bird tables I use a washing up brush and detox spray. Then hose down well until every trace of the spray has gone. I keep a bucket for soaking the feeders using bleech then rinsing well with a few changes of water in the bucket.
I do one at a time. I do mine in the greenhouse I don't like cold weather. I use disposable laytex gloves great for the job. :clap:

I clean mine once a month in the winter down in my basement in a giant bin with diluted bleach to disinfect it. I clean my heated birdbath out once a week.-In warm weather I do a quick cleaning of everything once a week and a thorough disinfectant cleaning once a month.