Regarding cleaning and sanitizing bird feeders: Before retirement from Dept of Food Science/Cornell Cooperative Extension at Cornell, I was a food safety specialist/educator for the CCE system statewide.
When cleaning any food prep or food service equipment and dining ware we and the NYS Health Dept always recommended these three steps below; these steps could apply to bird feeders, too. 1. Wash away food matter, dirt and grime using warm water and detergent and by scrubbing well with appropriate brush or scrubby pad. Change the soapy water when it becomes dirty looking if doing a lot of feeders. 2. Rinse well with clean water to get rid of the DEBRIS and the SOAP. (The feeder cleaning methods I have seen here on the list don't seem to mention this rinsing part). If present, debris and soap both make the third step with bleach INEFFECTIVE because the bleach molecules get tied up with the debris and soap and then don't work well to kill microorganisms. 3. Sanitize the feeders: Soak for a few minutes in a dilute bleach solution in tepid water (not hot water; see bleach bottle for strength guideline) and allow to air dry. Do not rinse with water after this step. Air drying with the dilute bleach solution helps maintain the killing properties of the bleach on the surface of the item. However, the chlorine does volatilize away and won't affect the new seed put into the feeder. If items are really badly contaminated (with feeders this would mean they are filthy with bird droppings and/or old moldy seed debris or there are known sick birds using them), one might want to go to a heavier Bleach solution to DISINFECT the feeders. Here use the guideline on bottle for "disinfection", which is a more heavy duty treatment (higher concentration of bleach) than for "sanitizing". This all sounds complicated, but it is not. Just set up a backyard "3-bucket system" to do the work (like the food service 3-bay sinks). If just a few feeders, use one sink with step 1, empty it and rinse the sink, then set up clean rinse water for step 2 (or just rinse under running water from tap), empty and rinse the sink, then Set up 3rd step with bleach water for soaking for a few minutes. Air dry. Pedantically yours, Donna Donna L. Scott 535 Lansing Station Road Lansing -----Original Message----- From: bounce-124015313-15001...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-124015313-15001...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Alicia Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2019 6:23 PM To: Norwalk, James <norw...@hws.edu>; CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: cleaning bird feeders I assumed it meant that grungy combination of oil & dust & chaff that piles up and adheres to the corners and base of feeders that are filled with sunflower or nyjer seed, but all I actually know is what was forwarded! Alicia On 10/13/2019 4:46 PM, Norwalk, James wrote: > I don't understand what the debris component is. > > ________________________________ > From: > bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu> > <bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu>> > on behalf of Alicia > <t...@ottcmail.com<mailto:t...@ottcmail.com>> > Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2019 4:20 PM > To: cayugabirds-l > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: cleaning bird feeders > > This was on a different bird list, thought it might be of interest to Cayuga > birders. > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > > The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 130(1):313-320, 2018 The > effectiveness of bird feeder cleaning methods with and without debris > > Lisa M. Feliciano,1 Todd J. Underwood,1* and Daniel F. Aruscavage1 > > ABSTRACT-Although feeders provide supplementary food to wild birds, they can > be a site of disease transmission. Periodic cleaning of bird feeders is > recommended to prevent disease transmission, but little is known about which > cleaning methods are most effective. We determined the effectiveness of 3 > cleaning methods (scrubbing with soap and water, bleach soak, and scrubbing > with soap and water followed by a bleach soak) in removing Salmonella from > feeders with debris from normal field use and without debris. Feeders were > inoculated with Salmonella enterica in the lab and then swabbed before and > after cleaning to determine the percent reduction of Salmonella colony > forming units (CFU/mL). All cleaning methods effectively reduced levels of > Salmonella on feeders without debris, but the presence of debris > significantly lowered the percent log reduction of Salmonella CFU/mL on > feeders. The bleach soak and the scrubbing with soap and water plus bleach > soak methods had a significantly higher percent reduction in Salmonella > CFU/mL than the scrubbing with soap and water method overall. A significant > interaction between debris and cleaning method was noted, however, indicating > that the presence of debris greatly lowered the percent reduction of > Salmonella CFU/mL on feeders cleaned with the scrubbing with soap and water > method compared to other methods. Overall, we recommend either scrubbing with > soap and water or a bleach soak to clean feeders with minimal debris, but > suggest a combination of these 2 cleaning methods if feeders have heavy > debris or if diseased birds are known to be in the area. > > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and > Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfiguratio > nLeave.htm> > Archives: > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist > .html> > Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! > -- > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave > .htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
