Deadly disease affects finches

[John D]

The disease affecting finches is spreading.
see link -
BBC News - Deadly bird disease trichomonosis 'spreads to Europe'

John D

[little_auk11]

Hi John - you beat me to it! I was about to post the same link.
The article also mentions what to look out for an how to notify the RSPB if birds are found with potential symptoms -

"We are looking out for birds that are fluffed up, lethargic and sitting around the bird feeders and not really going anywhere, and maybe looking a bit wet around the bill."

"Those are the typical signs of disease and if birds are coming into people's gardens, and people are seeing a number of birds with those symptoms, you should report them."

I usually have greenfinches on my feeders and a couple of youngsters were present last week. Feeding and looking well thankfully but I'll definitely keep a eye out. A good time to give those feeders a clean!

[Madmills]

It's an awful condition to witness, i saw it once, a few years ago and you feel wretched and helpless.
I tried educating the person who had the feeders in their garden but they were quite elderly and only paid me lipservice, i could have cried.

[Pipa]

Yikes!! That's not good, so how often should we be cleaning our feeders, i clean mine at least once a week, should it be more regular than that?

[Billabong Karen]

... and it says clean the birdbaths out too; I dont think I would have thought to do this without the information in the article.

[little_auk11]

Right - i've just cleaned my two feeders. Not an easy job - i need to invest in some of the easy clean kind! My 3 legged cat Colin tried to convince me he had a hankering for niger seed - i don't think it would go down too well.

I've had a google and can't find information about how often to clean feeders. 'Regularly' seems to be the buzz word. I'm sure it does depend a bit on how frequently they are visited, the weather etc. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will comment but i'd think once a week should be plenty?

A lot of seed does fall to the ground in my little garden and i must admit i've had a flowering sunflower, niger seed plants and oats this summer. Even a sweetcorn kernal has germinated and is in the early stages of 'cobbing' (wikipedia tells me that word has another meaning but you know what i mean!) It would be very difficult to clear fallen seed and indeed droppings but i'm willing to give it a go if this really could be problematic for the birds.

[Billabong Karen]

I just empty out my bird feeders and run them through the dishwasher once a week! And the mice make sure there are no seeds left on the ground after a while... I find the main problem are wooden bird tables, which are really quite difficult to clean properly, and require actual scrubbing.

Has anyone any ideas on cleaning bird baths? Is changing the water sufficient, or does the actual bath need scrubbing out too?

[Pipa]

when i clean my bird bath, well firstly mine is a large stone one, which the birds love because it has ridges their little feeet can cling too so they dont slide down the plastic ones when i clean mine i empty the water, rinse it with some clean water, scrub it using a scouring pad, rinse it out again, till the water runs clear, then fill it up.. after cleaning my feeders and baths, i always dispose of the cloths,scourers i have used ( i figure germs would build up on them so always best to ditch, and cloths and scourers are cheap enough)

i find the feeders a bit hard to clean as mine dont come apart, my tube ones anyway, i empty them out and swill them around in a bucket of soapy water, (same with my suet cake cages etc) then rinse in clear water

as for the feeding station poles i use a hygenic spray which i bought from guardman to wipe down the poles, get the bird poop off etc

[actionfinch]

I see this as well

Pipa try one of these

Gardman-Bird-Feeder-Cleaner-Brush

i have one and found it very good for those feeders that dont want to part.
the spray sounds a good idea ...i must invest...

[Pipa]

Originally Posted by actionfinch

I see this as well

Pipa try one of these

Gardman-Bird-Feeder-Cleaner-Brush

i have one and found it very good for those feeders that dont want to part.
the spray sounds a good idea ...i must invest...

i actually had a look in a hardware store for a long brush like that and it was 6 pounds, i was like Rip Off LOL *put it back on the shelf*, i see the gardman brushes are alot cheaper (just google'd for them) going to order myself one of those today, ebay have some too for a couple of pounds ty i like gardman products

i like the spray, it's handy for the poles/hooks, the birds love to sit on our hanging basket tree stands aswell so i use it to wipe those down too (remember to wipe over it again tho with clean cloth/water to rinse off the spray,) it's pretty expensive so i save it for wiping down the poles/hooks/ perchs and wash my feeders in soapy water