Easy to Clean Milk Thistle Feeders
Small seed-eating birds such as pine siskins and gold finches love thistle seed. These sociable little birds flock to thistle feeders, often covering every available space on the feeder to feast on the tiny nyger seeds. Thistle seeds sold for bird feed are sterile, so you don't have to worry about thistles sprouting all over your lawn. Squirrels and larger birds will usually leave thistle alone, leaving these feeders free for smaller birds.
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Styles
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Thistle feeders are made in two styles--tube feeders and thistle socks. Socks are made of nylon fabric with many tiny holes. Birds can cling to the fabric sock. The longer the sock, the more birds it can accommodate. Thistle socks may be white, black or any other color, and open with a drawstring at the top for filling.
Tube feeders are either plastic with feeding ports with tiny holes from which the birds can extract the seeds, or fine wire mesh. Tube feeders sometimes have a covering designed to allow only smaller birds to reach the interior tube. Tube feeders have a dome-shaped baffle on top to discourage squirrels and keep out the rain.
Advantages of Socks
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While some fabric thistle socks are designed to be thrown away when they become dirty, you can often wash them. Toss the empty thistle sock in the washer with a load of towels. Hang to dry to avoid having it shrink in the heat of the dryer. You could also hand-wash the thistle sock in a gentle detergent in the sink. Rinse well and hang to dry.
Tube Feeders
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Tube feeders can be trickier to clean. Tiny thistle seed tends to clump up in the bottom of tube feeders and clog wire mesh and plastic feeding ports.The easiest-to-clean tube feeders are made of smooth plastic and have bottoms and tops that can be removed. Mesh feeders are much more difficult to clean.
To clean a tube feeder, disassemble it as much as possible. Remove the top and, if possible, the bottom. Rinse it with a blast from the water hose.
Take the feeder inside and submerse it in a bucket or sink of hot soapy water with a tablespoon of bleach added. Let it soak for 15 minutes, then scrub the inside with a long-handled bottle brush or brush designed to clean bird feeders. Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry, then put the feeder back together.
Keeping It Clean
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Use clean, dry thistle seed. If a sock feeder becomes drenched in the rain, check it after one day. If it's still damp, empty the seed, allow the sock to dry and refill it with dry seed. Wet seed can mold and be harmful to birds.
Look for tube feeders with domes to keep out the rain. You won't have to worry as much about seed clumping up in this type of feeder.
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