Whatbird.com

Hi,

In various manuals, it indicated that one should soak a feeder in bleach to kill off the germs.

I have been running them through the dishwasher using a high heat dry cycle. Is this enough or do I actually need to use bleach?

 

Paul

in my opinion, you dont have to bleach feeders... nothing in nature is bleached, or even cleaned.. but the birds harmlessly eat from  them....i really think the cleaning is for the human  participants sake... just from 30 years experience feeding birds..if it makes you feel good, do it

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IM: oldguyrich

well, you are right that nothing in nature is bleached.  but, there are also no concentrated feeding areas in nature that pass along avian conjunctivitis and other diseases.  if one starts to see sick or listless birds at their feeder, it may be a good idea to disinfect them.  many people that feed birds will never encounter a situation where they are facilitating the spread of disease.  but, on occasion, some that have alot of finches (for example) at the feeder will experience this, and any preventive measures that will minimize or eliminate the spread should be taken.

Natureboy... you are right ...and probably better safe than sorry...

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IM: oldguyrich

paulsiu:

Hi,

In various manuals, it indicated that one should soak a feeder in bleach to kill off the germs.

I have been running them through the dishwasher using a high heat dry cycle. Is this enough or do I actually need to use bleach?

 

Paul

The use of bleach is used to kill off many of the contagious diseases. I would say that your dish washer cycle will do the same thing it would kill off any contagious disease that may be present. Most people don't use the dishwashers to clean there feeders but hand clean them that is why they suggest bleach.

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i soak my hummingbird feeders in a bucket with a few drops of bleach. But i have extra feeders i got at the local thrift store. So i know they are sanirary to start with.if i bleach.

The wooden ones that are painted or varnished i wipe off with a damp bleach cloth. and if they smell of bleach a hose them off. If they are splattered with droppings i occasionally

soak them in bleach water and hose them off.

I was always told that birds have a very acidic digestive system to help digest seeds and the high acid content kills most germs or virus but i figured just as well be safe.

Here the climate is mostly dry with little humidity but other places i have lived i would get moldy seed if the humidity was high for extended periods. did not want to spread fungus or virus

from the mold so would store excess seed in an old chest freezer.till it was needed.

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dklucius

I clean mine several times a year with a weak bleach solution.

If you are able to run them thru the dishwasher, that is great.  Most dishwasher detergents have some bleach in them.

I have a pretty high finch population and saw a diseased finch eating from my feeders this summer. So, every so often I will clean the feeders with bleach or run them through the dishwasher. Mostly, I just hose them off every other week.

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