Bird Feeder Cleaning

Bird feeders needed to be cleaned regularly to keep them disease free for your feathered friends. Depending on the weather, they should be cleaned every two weeks. Hummingbird Feeders should be cleaned every four days. Bird baths should be emptied and refilled every few days. Unclean bird feeders can develop fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus which causes respiratory infections in birds. Molds and bacteria that cause the birds to get sick or even die also can grow on the feeders. The communal feeding and bathing by feathered friends allows for the easy spread of disease. Bird Feeders and Bird Baths can be using ready made cleaners such as those sold at our website or you can make your own.  To make your own cleaner mix 9 parts water with one part household bleach. You also can use vinegar as a non-toxic way to clean your bird feeders.
 When I clean my bird feeders I start with 2 plastic buckets. I got mine at the Dollar Store for just a couple of dollars each. I put all the supplies I will need into one bucket,  a tube feeder cleaning brush, an old vegetable scrub brush, some small plastic bags (a old bread bags or plastic grocery store bags), 2 sponges, a clean rag,  a 1 inch putty knife and a 2 inch putty knife. I use the putty knifes to clean out the caked on old seed and hulls from the bird feeders.  In the second bucket I have a mixture of my cleaning solution. You will also need your garden hose with a spray nozzle.
I dump any seeds left in the feeder into a plastic bag and save them to put back into the feeder. I clean the old seed and hulls out of the feeders by putting into another plastic bag that I keep in my bucket. This keeps the seed off the ground where it will become moldy. Never let the seed stay on the ground, keep cleaning it up off the ground daily. Seed on the ground that becomes moldy will sicken your feathered friends.
Next I take the sponge and use my bucket of cleaning solution to thoroughly clean all the surfaces of my bird feeders. I take the feeders apart and make sure that they are cleaned on the inside as well as the outside. I make sure all the surfaces are wiped with my cleaning solution that birds might come in contact with. I then use my garden hose to thoroughly rinse the bird feeder to remove all traces of the cleaning solution. I then take the other sponge and use it and the clean rag to wipe the bird feeder clean. I then put the feeder out in the sun to finish drying out.
By the time I finish cleaning my last feeder on a warm or breezing day the first feeder may have dried. Living in the Pacific Northwest we do not have a lot of warm dry days. When it is wet outside I take the cleaned feeders in to my garage to dry. 
Once the feeder is totally dry I then refill it with seed.  When refilling with seed on my hopper bird feeders I put the old seed back in first and the new seed on top of it. In the tube feeders I put some new seed in the bottom first, then the old send from the plastic bag and then top it off with new seed. You do not want to let the seed that is below the eating holes of your tube feeder become stale. By always putting some new feed in first you are preventing this.
Once you have your feeders cleaned you know that all of your feathered friends that come to visit your backyard will be eating seed in a clean, safe bird feeder that is free of disease.