How Much Do You Spend On Wild Bird Seed?

[Nyboy]

Cane I have been saving fat, have same question.

 

[Nyboy]

Would pheasants hang around like chickens or would they fly away?

 

[seedcorn]

Little gypsy in them. Will not tame down like a chicken. Left undisturbed they will stay but hidden. You will hear them. They like open fields and not woods.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't make them for wild birds, so my suet cakes are a mite different than the norm. I make mine to be fed in the dead of winter when there's absolutely no bugs to be found outdoors and also to give to the breeding birds prior to breeding.

I render down the deer fat, which also has meat in it, take the fat off that liquid, then melt the fat down once again, stirring until it's pretty smoothly melted. Then I add some BOSS, minced garlic, brewer's yeast, a little layer mash, and oats. I managed to make 8 thick cakes out of that one road kill deer and that was without boiling down the carcass/bones. If I had done that, I probably would have gotten another 4 cakes...lots of fat in that marrow and spinal cord.

They aren't pretty, but they'll be attacked and consumed all the same...one thing to note, if you add too many fine grains(like my layer mash) and your fat isn't completely smooth and creamy, your cakes can be a bit crumbly.

 

[Nyboy]

Thanks Bee

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

They eat me out of house and home, so I only fill in the winter and early spring, or if we have guests or renters.

 

[Nyboy]

wow thats great !!!

 

[thistlebloom]

That's also why I only offer BOSS now. I used to feed nyjer and safflower as well, and we had about half a dozen feeders up, more or less, that I always kept full.

After the pillaging by the Evening Grosbeaks I rethought my methods, and now we have 2 feeders filled with BOSS only, and I only refill once a week.

 

[journey11]

We made cute little snowmen out of homemade suet one year to give as Christmas presents. They even had little hats and scarves on them. DH's grandma liked hers so well, she kept it in the freezer, couldn't bear to give him to the birds. I guess the thought of sacrificing him to the birds was a little bit morbid, leaving behind only his duds. You can just mix any type of birdseed in there you think they'd like, just like making cookies. Peanuts or peanut butter is good in there too, for extra protein. You can ask at the butcher if they'll sell you some lard. Shouldn't cost much.

 

[Smart Red]

I don't do much to feed the wild birds anymore. I do have lots of wild food sources for them, but the risk of disease to my chickens is the reason I've stopped feeding them. The chickens love a treat of wild birdseed now and then, especially when mixed with left over oatmeal.