If you enjoy feeding and watching your backyard birds, then you probably want to do as much as
you can to ensure the birds’ overall health and well-being.

While the incidence of birds falling ill from feeders is small compared to other natural hazards birds face, cats, window strikes, etc. , there are steps you can take to help your birds stay healthy.

Below are some tips to keeping your feeders and bird baths squeaky clean 

• Clean your bird feeders at least once a season. Ideally once every 1-2 weeks.

• You should clean your bird baths every 2-3 days. To discourage mosquitoes from laying eggs and prevent algae from spreading change the water often.

• Use a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. This will disinfect the feeders and bird baths. Rinse thoroughly afterwards and allow feeders to completely dry before refilling.

• Keep areas under and around your feeders clean. Rake up shell debris under feeders regularly. 

• If you find a sick or dead bird it's advisable to take your feeders down for at least 10 days.

• Make sure the seed in your feeder isn't getting moldy from moisture or stale from lack of birds. Always dispose old moldy seed in the trash. 

• Use one of our No-Mess Seed Blends. No shells on your seed leaves no shell waste under your feeders.

• Finch feeders are notorious for getting moldy. You only have one or two species of Finches that eat Nyjer and they're not there everyday. This means the seed sits there longer. Try to only fill your finch feeder partially. Shake your finch feeder every couple of days to disrupt the seed.

• Provide multiple feeding stations in different areas to disperse bird activity. This will reduce crowding and lessen the potential for disease transmission between sick and healthy birds.

• You can also use tray feeders to social distance the birds. 

Wild Birds Unlimited Hockessin carries a variety of products that help make cleaning your feeder less of a chore, so you can spend less time scrubbing feeders and more time watching the birds. Here are just a few of them:

• Wild Birds Unlimited tube feeders have a removable base making it easy to clean out the feeder.

• Wild Birds Unlimited also carries a line of Eco Clean Feeders. These feeders have built-in antimicrobial product protection on the treated surfaces, which means your feeder is keeping itself clean.

• Weather Guards keep bird seed and your birds dry.

• Specially designed scrub brushes make removing tough grime easier