Bird Feeder and Bird Bath Cleaning

The last couple of days we've had concerned customers asking us about this CBC news story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/bird-infection-atlantic-canada-1.4199049

We just wanted to let everyone know that the parasite that is infecting the birds on the Eastern Coast has only been found in Eastern populations and not Western bird populations.

Although the parasite isn't found on Vancouver Island we continue to recommend cleaning your bird feeders and bird baths regularly to maintain the health of our local bird populations.

 

 

Bird feeders: Remove old seed (especially if it has gotten wet) and dispose of it. Use a solution of nine parts water to one part bleach or vinegar (a 10% bleach/ vinegar solution) to disinfect your feeders. Repeat the cleaning process once a week for all bird feeders, or a minimum of once a month. Please also clean your suet feeders regularly.

 

 

 

Plastic feeders: submerge them in the solution after taking them apart, give them a good scrub, a good rinse, and then let it dry thoroughly before adding seed and putting them back outside.

Cedar feeders: we recommend placing the diluted bleach solution in a spray bottle and after removing the seed, use the spray bottle to distribute the bleach solution on all surfaces of your cedar feeder. The bleach solution will evaporate within approx. 12 hours and then its safe to add seed to your feeder again. If you have any extra grubby spots on your cedar feeder, make sure to scrub these off/ remove them prior to adding fresh seed to your bird feeder.

Bird baths: we recommend changing the water every other day, and then cleaning the bird baths with the diluted bleach or vinegar solution once a week if possible, or at least once a month.

 

Important:

If you notice any sick looking birds (lethargic, missing patches of feathers, skin growths, puffed up feathers, etc.) using your bird feeder or bird bath, clean these items as soon as possible to keep your backyard birds healthy.

 

We hope these instructions help everyone keep their bird feeders and bird baths clean. If you have any questions about cleaning your specific feeder, or how to disassemble your feeder, please come visit us at the store and we'd be happy to help you.