Aussie Finch Forum

Just because you don't scold out the dishes dosnt mean there not clean, I rinse out water dishes once or twice a day, my birds love there baths.
Things like egg foods, seed sprouts, ect should be removed, they can go rancid.
But with my greens, I give Kikurri grass, Clover, Dandelion leaves, thistle, Chick weed, also seeding heads, I don't remove any of these the same day.
I am very careful with my Birds, I dont take any chances, I have been into birds about 52 years, so what I do is tried & tested over & over for over 32 years since my friend told me about the green alge, but it dosnt suit all, some people clean every thing daily thats fine, we all have our ways, I use to do it also,but in the wild birds drink from muddy holes & pick seeds off the ground, they dont sterilize every thing, so they build up an immunity like us to certain bugs.
A lab in western australia found all there mice were getting diebeties, they come to the conclusion they sterilized to much, they think that people that sterilize every thing are more prone to diebeties.
There are buggs that will kill our birds so we do have to remove egg foods ect so that it cant go rancid.

Algae can be an important source of green food, it can also be a trouble spot, I have open water dishes and clean them regularly, birds not only drink and bath in it, they also poop in it and get their bums washed at the same time however, if you use closed drinking vessel like a upside down bottle where the water is not being contaminated apart from the odd husk I would allow algae to grow inside the bottle walls particularly if you have not got the time to look for seeding grasses, a green bottle may look unsightly but, there are benefits to be had.

Water bowls are connected to the retic, so are flushed twice a day in summer, and when we are away for the weekend. Changed, I have 2 sets, and scrubbed as I deem necessary. Which is not daily.
LML