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Bronchiectasis and chickens

MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (12)

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Profile picture for cholash @cholash

@sueinmn thanks for all your info . I was given a bird feeder for Christmas that has a camera with it. I haven’t hung it yet , and now wondering if I want to go through so much cleaning, etc . When you say clean , how do you clean the feeders? Do you laundry clothes & shower directly after? This is all new to me , since I’ve yet to have, or be educated on, one of the bird related infections . I’ve only had basic run of the mill lung infections . No ID doctor needed.

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Replies to "@sueinmn thanks for all your info . I was given a bird feeder for Christmas that..."

@cholash I am in the "belt or suspenders' club as far as my risk tolerance, others may be more cautious than me.

Cleaning bird feeders is easy, and needs to be done frequently for the health of the birds you are feeding, otherwise where they flock, they can catch bird flu, mites and lots of other nasties.

Every day, I drain the little fountain near the bird area, use the brush and a little bathroom cleaner with bleach to scrub it, rinse thoroughly and refill. I carefully refill the bird feeders using a funnel-type scoop, so no dust blows back at me. I dump and refill the self-waterer.

My weekly process is simple:
Take down the feeder, empty the remaining seed and put it on the ground.
Blast it thoroughly with a hard stream from the hose to loosen and remove old food, droppings, etc.
Put the feeder in a tub where I have put 1 cup of bleach in about 4 gallons of water (I keep a separate tub for this) and soak for a few minutes, then scrub inside and out with a long handled bottle brush.
Rinse in a stream of water and put in the sun to dry before refilling.
Repeat for each feeder and the self-waterer, then dump the water, rinse the tub and brush and put in the sun to dry.
Go in the house and thoroughly wash my hands and arms ( and legs if I have gotten them wet.) Dry off and put the used towel in the laundry.

I should wear a mask while I do these tasks, and I do it when I remember. I don't worry about my clothes or showering.

PS I have been doing it this way for years with no issues.
This is the scoop I use:
https://www.chewy.com/more-birds-bird-feeder-seed-scoop/dp/220281
And this is the type of waterer:
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/poultry-farm/feeder-waterer/poultry-waterers/poultry-waterer-3-quart/