BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Adam M" data-source="post: 1812380" data-attributes="member: 63469">I am guilty of not cleaning my feeders as often as I should. Usually because I keep them topped up so the birds don't go hungry, which means they are never empty enough for me to clean them. But when I do get round to cleaning them, I wish I had done it sooner. One time the food had gone all rotten at the bottom and it was surely crawling with disease, never felt so bad. Now I clean them at least once a month in hot soapy water, rinse well and allow to dry. With a lot of diseases it is the heat that kills them, not the soap, soap just aids the removal of dirt in most cases.The problem I always had is feeders that dont come apart easily. The worst ones are those that use clips to lock into place, meaning that aren't designed to be taken apart. I don't mind unscrewing things if it means I can clean them well. This was something I look for now when ever I buy a new feeder. Same with bird tables, go for one with edging around it, but with holes in the corners of the edging to allow drainage and cleaning.Some interesting points about disease brought up on here. The way we feed birds is not natural and so disease can build up around feeding stations as appose to natural feeding sites. This is very much like diseases associated with cities, diseases which were never known of when man was nomadic. Cleaning feeding stations is important and should be done so on a regular basis. Diseases can replicate at incredible rates, a single E.coli cell, if left in perfect conditions, will multiply and become.....it's either the size or the weight, and I cant decide which.....of the world within 3 days!!! While we are not on about E.coli and conditions might not be perfect for salmonella or trichomoniasis, it does show just how quickly disease can become established and grow.The way I see it is that if you were feeding people you would make sure your kitchen was spotless and disease free, it should be the same with your feeding station. Feeding the birds is all well and good, but giving them diseases from doing so isn't.Adam</blockquote>

Verification