Peanut Butter Suet - Homemade

I've been thinking about making me some peanut butter suet by using one of the following recipes:

Recipe one: (the simple one)
a- 1 cup melted lard or beef suet
b- 1 cup peanut butter - without "partially hydrogenated oil" - I'm gonna use crunchy
c- 2 cups quick oats - I guess that is regular old oatmeal
d- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
e- 1 cup all-purpose flour

Recipe two:
a- Melt 1 cup shortening (crisco or bacon fat). I think I'd rather use lard, instead of shortening
b- Add 16-20 ounces of crunchy peanut butter.
c- Heat and stir until melted.
d- Add 1 cup of raisins,
e- Add 1 cup of black oil sunflower seeds,
f- Add 6 cups of cornmeal
g- Add 4 cups of flour.
g- Spoon into a 13x9 pan. Chill until it is hard. Cut into chunks for suet feeders (or stuff into cracks and crevices in logs).

What are your thoughts one which of the recipes looks best? Or do you have a better one that's "tried and true".

Hack

Here is something I "took" from the sticky at the top of the forum:
pelletory
Marlton, NJ
January 28, 2008
03:08 AM

Post #4460701

Quote

Along with seeds; Suet is an important food especially during the winter months when natural food sources are scarce for the birds. You can buy suet at the store, but making it yourself or with your children can be a fun and interesting project.

Some Important Things to Remember when Cooking Any Type of Fats

- Do not leave cooking fats unattended. If you must walk away turn OFF the heat and put a tilted lid on the pot.

- Keep all Pot Handles turned to the back of the Stove away from small hands or furry paws.

- Do not cook fats on High Heat as they burn very easily.

-Use a slightly larger pot than you think you'll need. Preferrably a Heavy Bottom pot.

This first suet recipe talks about using Cayenne Pepper to deter squirrels.
http://www.recipesfromgrandma.com/2007/07/19/bird-suet-recip...

The Sialis site has many different suet recipes.
http://sialis.org/suet.htm

One last site that has recipes along with using your old Christmas tree for birds.
http://www.gertens.com/learn/howtos/alphabetical/ah/birdfeed...

Thanks pelle,

The idea of adding cayenne pepper is a good one. In fact, I liked the entire recipe of the first link. I think I'll adopt it.

The last site didn't open, but I think I have read it somewhere. I think its about taking an old Christmas tree and cutting out an 18 to 24 inch section on trunk. Next, you cut the limbs back to become perches. Then, you drill 1/2-inch-deep holes above the perches and to fill with suet. After attaching a rope/cord to the top, you're ready for hanging. I haven't tried it yet, but I haven't forgotten it, either.

Hack

Recipe #1 is similar to what I make except I add crunchy peanut butter and bird seed. I usually freeze mine then cut into squares to fit my suet feeders. The birds love it!

Thanks crazybirdlady51 - I think I'll make me some of Recipe #1, w/ bird seed, tonight.

Question, do you use it in the summer too, I mean, does it melt?

Hack

This is our peanut butter feeder. I use three heaping tablespoons of chunky peanut butter, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cornmeal, 1/4 barley, a good sprinkle of amaranth grains and millet. They really prefer cooked grits if I have them available. I no longer add bird seed because they eat around the sunflower seeds. There is a never-ending line all day long: sparrows, catbirds, pine warblers, chickadees, titmice, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers, house wrens, and cardinals. Lots of fun to watch!

Pillita - is that ALL the ingredients in your suet? No lard or shortening?? I have never fed suet before but I am really trying to attract more cardinals etc to my yard and they seem to be ignoring my bird seed.......

How are you "serving" this to them??? do I just put it on a flat feeder or does it need to hang ??

Thanks ..... obviously I am new to this and have a lot to learn.
Genna

That's my whole recipe. It's warms up too much here, even in the winter, for real suet to last for long.

We hang our feeder. I've tried different methods, putting in pinecones (too messy), holes drilled into a piece of wood, etc., but a recycled tin can works the best. We crimped the edges, of course, so that it wasn't sharp and nailed it to a board with two pieces of wood in a V-shape to hold it in place. It actually takes longer to find the right size stick for a perch than it did to make the feeder. Ours is nailed to the side of a tree. The branches that hang down around it, which you can't see in this picture, are the waiting line.

In July/August, we have had it loosen up slightly because of the heat, with some dripping onto the ground if the can was full, but the dogs seem delighted to take care of that mess.

Thanks... more questions if you don't mind..... do you just mix it in a bowl and fill the can full? I assume the entire lid of the can is removed so they can reach all the way to the bottom? It is a soup size can or a larger can? can't tell from the pics? Does one batch fill it up or do you have leftovers??

Sorry to have so many - but WHERE do you get the barley, millet and amaranth grains?? A local feed store - as in livestock feed???

This sounds like something I would love to try......

Genna

I believe that it was a vegetable can which is a little wider than a Campbell's soup can. We completely removed the lid with a can opener and, with a pair of pliers, crimped around the inside edge so there would be no sharp edges to cut little bird feet.

I do mix it in a bowl and then spoon it into the can. One batch in the proportions I mentioned above fills the can. After I spoon it in, I press it down into the can so that it is less likely to spill out if I've not mixed it as well as I should have.

The barley is the regular pearled barley from the grocery store. It's on the top shelf above the rice at Publix. The millet and amaranth I bought at Whole Foods for our own consumption. The millet I really liked, but the rest of the family didn't. It's just like the millet that comes in birdseed, but made for human consumption. I bought the amaranth as well on a lark since I only go to Whole Foods once a year. I didn't find a lot that I could do with it, so into the bird peanut butter it goes. My whole mix is people food. I do buy store brand chunky PB just so I can use it for the birds, but we could eat it. I suppose you could put bird seed mix in, but the sunflower seeds don't seem to be very popular in mine. The smaller birds eat around them.

Well, somehow I just lost my post so I will try again...... I buy my PB and Oats at Sam's Club in large quantities so that should help keep my cost down unless they really start eating alot. :) I don't know if we will have barley at our store or not, but I will definitely look. Maybe i can just mix in some of the small type birdseed instead of the millet and amaranth (well guess it would have millett in it since I really am not sure what it looks like)

Do I need to do anything special to attract them to the feeder??? The birds have completely ignored the regular bird feeder I have put out......just like it isn't there!!

Genna

The millet are the small white round seeds in birdseed mix. It seems to get eaten twice as fast when I use cooked grits. Flour and any kind of dried fruit as mentioned above is a good choice to add as well.

The feeder is on a tree about four feet off the ground with limbs hanging down so they don't have to fly more than a foot to get to safety. We chose a tree that we could see well from both our porches.

I don't get as many birds without the perch.

I think I have a leftover piece of dialrod ? left over from my son's boy scout project - it is like an 1 1/4 " and should be a good size to use for a perch. Thought I could put it under the can on the boards and be good to go......
NOW, if i can just get my husband to help me put it together and on the tree.... :) The bad thing is I don't have any trees in view of my porches - well at least with 75 yds!

Genna

That's what they make binoculars for! Hope it works. Let me know. I could talk about birds all day long.

Well, I had feeders up last year on my back porch and in my back yard and really enjoyed seeing the birds - although mostly sparrows came :( But, now I am back to having a large dog in my fenced back yard and he chases the birds, so they wouldn't come to the feeders. I have moved a couple of them to the front, but they haven't seemed to come to them. Not sure why.

Do you have bluebirds? We have lots of bluebirds but i don't know what to feed them.... they don't seem to eat the normal food. i have heard they like fruit but I don't know if it is safe to feed them all kinds. Is there somewhere here on Daves that I can learn what to feed them? had a bunch of meal worms that I had raised to feed them this winter and my husband threw them away...................... :( so now I don't have any!

Genna

There are lots of people in the bird forum who can tell you pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about bluebirds. Just post a question there. We did have them for two years (ended badly both times), but I don't try to feed them. I've never heard of them eating fruit.

I corrected my dog every time she tried to chase birds when I first started feeding them. She learned and hasn't done it since except once when about a thousand grackles descended on our yard at one time. I can't really blame her for that.

Well, he is home alone while we work all day and he amuses himself by chasing any bird that dare come into his territory. Don't think he would harm them IF he caught one, but he loves having something to chase..... :) If I was home all day, I might could correct the behavior - doubt i stand a chance on a part time basis.

Thanks.
Genna

Here is THE bluebird authority: http://www.sialis.org/
I can't spell it so well, so it took me a couple of extra days to find this ;-}

I was inspired by Pillita's peanut butter mixture and feeder, so I imitated the design with some materials I had around the house. I used 3 pieces of wooden garden edging (that way I didn't have to cut anything) and screwed them together with deck screws and then to the tree. I used an empty wasabi peanut can and made the suet mix (less the barley & amaranth) and put it in the can. So far I have seen a Bewick's Wren and an Orange-crowned Warbler! The Warbler comes back repeatedly. It hasn't been up for long, so I expect more visitors. Thanks, Pillita.

This message was edited Feb 8, 2010 5:28 PM

Genna,

I've had bluebirds here in the yard for 3 winters now and while they will gobble up mealworms at any time, they are willing to eat the p'nut butter mix I make in the winter. They will cling onto the suet log and suet cage with all of the other birds but prefer the large ceramic dish that I have on the deck rail. The only downside to that dish is that the squirrels and bluejays will clean it out quickly if I don't keep watch. I put the food out at timed intervals and they know the schedule so it mostly works out.

1:1 ratio of crunchy peanut butter and Crisco softened in the microwave
enough corn meal so that the dough will slightly crumble
whatever I have around: dried currants, chopped nuts, raisins

Great ideas guys! I wish I could do the one missy and pillita posted but the 10 squirrels would have that gone in a minute. Maybe try it on the baffled pole.

Pelle, the squirrels might stay out of it with Cayenne pepper in the mix. I haven't tried it, but that's what I've read and heard.

Thanks Missy, I have a hard core group of squirrels. Thy eat through the hot pepper even though you can see it's burning their mouth. Their a tough bunch.

I was thinking the same thing pelle. That would be an open buffet at my house, between the squirrels and the starlings. I would love to get the Bluebirds to come in to the yard regular. I can't afford to feed mealworms.

I have to keep the homemade suet in a cage or the Starlings would devour it in no time. I haven't had a problem with the squirrels trying to bother the cage but our squirrels seem to prefer the platform seed feeders. Most of the smaller birds can get into the cages..of course it is mainly for feeding the Blues. The 3 little bowls in this cage contain worms, homemade suet and sunflower hearts...all favorites of the Blues.

Did you make the cage or purchase it? how big are those squares??

I made the cage and it is one cube from a storage unit set. Each side is about 14" and the openings are 1 1/2"...just big enough for the Blues to squeeze in. The one in the above pic was just wired together and this one shows the original corners that clip the cubes together.
They were free since I had them laying around and am too cheap to buy the real thing plus they do double duty since they are very roomy.

Dellrose...what a great idea!! If I had this on my deck than I wouldn't have to worry about the squirrels or jays wiping the suet out. And I am happy to feed the other little birds who share very nicely with the bluebirds. I might even have something like this downstairs in my basement.....

I just need to be on the lookout in May when I move my son out of his on campus apartment.... those kids throw away all kinds of stuff because they don't have a way to get it home. SURELY someone will throw away some type of storage bin!!

Thanks for the idea....
Genna

So many great ideas. I going to Lowes and see what I can find to make a cage(s) with. Then I'm going use Pillita's PB recipe to fill some shallow bowls, dog bowls, maybe? and see what it attracts.

Hack

I found nice small metal bowls for like a dollar at Walmart that I use for the orioles jelly.

Genna,
If you want to attract cardinals try safflower seed . I once asked an elderly neighbor how she attracted the cardinal and that is what she recommended , I have been using it in one of my feeders just for them and they do love it and the squirels don't seem to like it much. They are not as comfortable at the tube feeders and are really ground feeders but they will come to feeders that they can land on.
laura

Thanks.... maybe I need a larger feeder.... so they would feel more secure - most of mine are the tube type but I do have one smaller one that has the sides on it.

Genna

Genna....the heavy duty Squirrel Buster Plus feeder comes with an optional perch ring that is perfect for cardinals. And they are not competing with squirrels for food. I have tried many feeders over the years and the squirrels gave up after a day which is impressive for my crew of very persistent squirrels.

I'll attest to the Squirrel Buster being a great feeder. I have 2 of them. :-)

This is an old thread I know..... but I lost my suet recipe so I had to refind this thread....... reminded me that I never did find a wire cage, and I have lots of BB in my yard this year so I really need to try to have my husband make one to feed them in. Dellrose, do you have that feeder on the ground or on a pole ? I can't tell from the picture.

Now that Christmas is over and I have a little time I hope to attempt to make a feeder for the bluebirds. Also, I did purchase some of the safflower seeds and my cardinals seem to be enjoying that.

Thanks so much for the advice....
Genna

Genna...I set it on a platform at least 3 feet off the ground. It is in an enclosed area where the wild animals can't get to it. Good luck with your Bluebirds!!

Thanks.....now to find some of that wire mesh........

I have also cut the inside out of one of those caged suet feeders and used it for a mealworm feeder. They cost about $13 at Tractor Supply and it has worked out nicely too as it doesn't take up much room. http://www.tractorsupply.com/wild-birds-pet-birds/bird-feeders-feeding-accessories/bird-feeders/royal-wing-reg-suet-cake-bird-feeder-large-6852447 .