Suet cakes are an effective way to attract woodpeckers and nuthatches to backyard feeders, featuring ingredients such as peanut butter, raisins, nuts, oats, sunflower seeds and dried fruit.
Making your own suet cakes is an easy and more cost-effective solution than purchasing commercial suet products from bird supply stores.
Contents
Ingredients
An easy winter bird feeder recipe requires only basic ingredients: lard, peanut butter (preferably all natural), ground bird seed and dried fruit as well as chunks of rendered down suet.
A healthy animal or vegetable fat that binds all of the other ingredients together is of vital importance in crafting homemade pet treats. Most people opt for lard or rendered beef tallow; I prefer coconut oil due to its abundance of beneficial fats for both birds and humans alike, including properties that promote blood flow – particularly helpful when dealing with cold temperatures as this can prevent frostbite on combs and feet.
Combining wet and dry ingredients and mixing until everything is evenly combined. Scrape the bottom of the container occasionally as you go along; pour out onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper and freeze. Once frozen, cut into blocks that fit your suet feeders.
Mixing
As winter sets in, wild birds require extra protein to re-grow feathers and stay warm. Homemade suet cakes provide an easy solution for providing this extra protein boost and are sure to bring joyous birds of the local environment and chickens alike!
To create a suet cake, simply mix together all the ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Popular choices for ingredients are chopped unsalted nuts (peanuts are the ideal), dried fruit bits, kitchen scraps such as wilted greens or eggs that could go rancid quickly (use these sparingly!), bird seed, oats, corn meal or wheat germ.
Beef or lard fat should be used to bind suet, and straining several times should ensure its purity.
Purchase plain suet cake-shaped from garden centers, pet stores or online retailers who specialize in wild bird food. While this option may be more costly than making your own suet, this choice offers you another viable option to feed wild bird.
Forming
Suet cakes are an easy and tasty high-fat snack for wild birds to make themselves, and can make an impactful statement about how important vegetarianism is in birding. All it requires is getting your hands on some beef fat – which should be readily available from grocery store meat departments or your butcher. Alternatively, vegetable shortening could also work. For vegetarian birders this might be preferred option!
Garden centers, pet stores and wild bird supply stores often sell pre-rendered plain suet cakes designed for hanging feeders at significantly reduced costs compared to making your own suet cakes from scratch.
Storing
Once the suet cakes have set, they can be used on a bird feeder or stored in the refrigerator – however direct sunlight should be avoided to avoid melting.
This activity is perfect for kids as it doesn’t involve sharp kitchen utensils or extreme heat sources, and the resultant treat for wild birds provides them with energy-rich nutrients they’ll need throughout winter!
With just four easy-to-find ingredients and a basic recipe in mind, you can create your own deluxe suet cake for the wild birds in your yard. Just be careful that any recipes call for sugary ingredients or anything besides quality fat sources such as lard, tallow (birds are known to easily digest animal fats) or nut butter; offering access to these types of high energy foods will allow your feathered friends to build fat reserves that will keep them warm all winter long! Who wouldn’t want that?
