Do you feed our feathered friends? I don’t have the right habitat at my open prairie homestead, but the new one has great potential for providing a haven for songbirds and migrating flocks. During the recent cold weather, I realized that there was much more I could do to help the birds that frequent my homestead to survive. Today I am going to share with you a simple recipe for Do It Yourself suet bird feed.
Suet feed that will fit a standard feeder is at an excellent price at Buchheit, so that is a good option if you are busy, but they also have some of the key ingredients to make your own. You want a good quality black oil sunflower seed. Since I give this as a treat to my hens, I am picky about the brand as some have lots of debris. I consistently like the product carried by Buchheit and I would not recommend it if it were not the truth. They also have a scratch feed that you can use to mix into your suet blend.
Let’s get started making homemade suet. I want to use up the lard we rendered while butchering, so that will be my source of fat. You can use beef tallow and store-bought lard. Make sure to hang it in a shady spot as it will melt quicker than the pre-packaged suet.
Here’s Recipe #1: Adapted from Genius Kitchen
No-Melt Songbird Suet
Fixings:
2 cups quick oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar (I use succinant)
1 cup lard (you can use bacon grease but I would not suggest it unless you are processing your own)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
Melt the lard and peanut butter together either on the stove or in the microwave. Either way, you choose, be careful when you pour it out.
Combine all the dry ingredients and pour the melted fat and peanut butter over the dry fixings.
Mix well. If you have parchment paper, line a cookie sheet and pour mixture into pan. Cool mix and cut it into squares that will fit the suet feeder.
Here’s Recipe #2: Annie’s Simple Blend
Melt 1 cup lard with 1 cup peanut butter
Pinch of red pepper flakes (birds don’t mind but it will deter the squirrels)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup scratch
1 cup flour
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup white sugar
Remove one cup dry mix from the bowl
Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients. Stir well and add an extra 1 cup of dry ingredients as needed. Turn out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. I wait until I am done baking cookies and reuse the parchment paper. I move this to my barn refrigerator, which I still call an ice-box which dates me! I cut it up when cold and store in the freezer until needed.
I hope you will consider putting out some food for our feathered friends, they are losing their habitats, and a variety of factors are reducing their numbers.
Be blessed, which in one form of the Greek word means to be happy. So set your head to have a great day!
Sincerely, Anne May
