Food For Birds

[shroom vaccuum]

Frank got me thinking maybe members would like a good recipe for your birds. very inexpensive and easy to make.

Equal amounts of Old Fashioned Rolled Oats and Corn Meal

I also add black sunflower seeds, striped sunflower seeds, mixed bird seed, nijer seed, and maybe a few raw peanuts and raisins. Also add a bit of parakeet gravel.

mix well and bind with enough melted lard to moisten well. This can either be put on sheets and cut into blocks to fit your suet blocks or into disposable plastic cups.
Chill and store.

The birds love it and is alot less expensive than the purchased ones. I use lard because it's already rendered for the same price of suet that you have to render. Large buckets of lard can be purchased at Sav-a-Lot. Very Cheap.

[steo]

Thanks very much, my bird feed bill is getting hard to believe.

[miker]

Sue, I also throw in a dozen wax worms or mousies also,mike

[shroom vaccuum]

Good idea! Have thought about that before but don't want the bugs in my dishes. I'm kinda finicky about that.

[miker]

Sue, don't worry!! They stop moving really quick, when they hit that hot rendered lard or suet,mike

[shroom vaccuum]

I'm not afraid of bugs. Learned that a long time ago fishing with my dad. Couldn't fish if I didn't bait my own hook and clean my fish. Just don't like the idea of bugs and food or food surfaces.

[shroom vaccuum]

By the way, I took all the mash from making Blackberry Cordial out to my birds. They didn't touch it right away, probably because of the alcohol residue, but after a week they scarfed it all up. That was 4 batches worth so throw it to the birds.

[Frank]

Originally posted by shroom vaccuum
....I use lard because it's already rendered for the same price of suet that you have to render. Large buckets of lard can be purchased at Sav-a-Lot. Very Cheap. I've come to that same conclusion Sue, after rendering Suet for two nights. easier, cheaper and faster.

[Princess Roon]

What happens if you don't render the suet? I've fed the birds forever and never have done that. Just put it out in an small used onion bag and hung from the tree that hangs over our deck. I hope it doesn't hurt them?! I do like your recipe though and will surely try it. Thanks!

[shroom vaccuum]

It doesn't hurt the birds at all to leave the suet whole. We render it so we can mix seeds and other things with it to give the birds more variety. In the past I have purchased the suet ground to mix with other things. It's much easier to mix as a liquid. In the summer (if you feed the birds) its better to have something that's already cooked. Raw suet in the summertime stinks really bad!

[Ohio Transplant]

I've recently started feeding birds here after seeing a couple of blue jays in one of our spruce trees. Now we get wood peckers, cardinals and a bunch of others. I enjoy it and will use Sues recipe to make something a bit more sustainable than just mixed seed.

[Princess Roon]

I also feed them seeds along with the suet, but in a feeder nearby. I finally got one that the squirells can't get into as much. It hangs right outside my slider and I get cardinals, chickadees, golfinches, juncos, sparows, nuthatches, titmouses and a variety of woodpeckers. I use the hulled seeds, which are a little more costly, but I figure I'm paying for just the food, not the hulls and then there is no mess at the end of winter. I just watch for it to go on sale and buy a couple of bags to get me through the winter. Summertime, I don't bother too much with it, I figure they can get alot of seeds from my flower gardens and all the field weeds and flowers. Gosh, can't wait for Spring!!

[steo]

I have spent over $150 on seed already this year.

[steo]

Next year I'm going to raise sunflower seeds. Have never planted them before.

[Ohio Transplant]

sunflowers make a nice addition to a garden IMO

[Mushmouth]

plant a autumn olive tree too
Birds love those...

The only thing I feed a bird is stuffing. :))

[miker]

Dave, I normally plant sunflowers about a half an inch deeper in the soil than what is recommended, when they come up, they are a little more sturdy to the wind, if you want, after I plant mine, I'll send you a headflower, or if your coming North for a hunt I will save you one in the fall, the type I grow, have headflowers, that can exceed 2 feet in diameter,mike

[shroom vaccuum]

If you want them nice and healthy dig your trench deeper and put whats left over when you clean fish. Cover with some of the dirt before planting the seeds.

[Ohio Transplant]

I don't have a bird feeder. Store bought type don't interest me, so I have been pouring the seeds out on the ground at the base of a big old spruce tree. Birds dont seem to mind, until I can find a feeder or build some that attach to a tree. I've found that rabbits like bird seed also. They ease over after dark and get their fill.