Your bird suet recipes?

I'm new to this forum, but have been watching birds for a while.

I've made suet, but have never been able to get it to stay together like ablock, always putting it in a bowl for the birds. Using natural peanut butter, but can one use regular peanut butter.

Would love your recipes.

kathy

If natural PB has less salt than stick w/ that because salt is very bad for birds.

Have you looked at the recipes from Sialis?

http://sialis.org/suet.htm

Heres another site that will take you to some recipes.
http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa031300a.htm#seed

Remember if your using real suet to melt down instead of lard or crisco you'll probably need an exhaust fan that vents to the outdoors. Or do it outdoors.

Have you saved any of the plastic trays that suet normally comes in?

Pelle

I haven't seen those links, thanks will take a look

Seems weird t hat that first link only mentions peanutbutter but never mentions the natural kind. some recipes says use the peanut butter with nuts.

Does everybody who makes their own suet use natural peanut butter?

I usually use bacon grease, I notice some of these other recipes do too, but I haven't used cornmeal, I wonder if that's what makes it cake together, cause mine sure doens't cake at all.

Cornmeal is mentioned in most recipes.

Are you also using lard?

I made suet for the first time on Tuesday. I used regular, crunchy peanut butter, lard, oatmeal and cornmeal, along with a bunch of other "treats." I didn't like the consistency at first, so I added a bit more cornmeal, and that seemed to do the trick. Oh, and that cake that I put out on Tuesday is history!

Tomorrow I'll be adding suet recipes in the Sticky (Helpful Guides and Tips).

Thanks Pelle I appreciate your adding those suet recipes and helpful links

I usually use bacon grease, but never usually have enough so I'm going to purchase some lard. I am usually all for doing it as natural as possible, and don't think crisco would be a really good thing or would it? I 'd probably use lard. and probably get some more natural peanutbutter, cause the birds got the last of my other.

Can't imagine why flour is used, but whole wheat flour would probably be better ha?

and I have cornmeal but it's a mix, and that link said yellow cornmeal works best. so I'll have to pick some of that up.

I use crisco, the birds don't seem to mind. I get a huge can at costco so I have it awhile. The recipe I use was published in Birds & Blooms mag. It says use lard and don't substitute, but what the heck. Its fat... The cakes hold together pretty well. I store in the freezer until needed. I add BOSS or dried cranberries sometimes.

Indiana Lily...I use the same recipe as yours...the Starlings eat it 10 times faster than the store bought! ;0(

When we left for the store this morning, there was almost a complete cake of suet. When we got back, not two hours later, it was almost gone!! We spent most of the day shooing off the Starlings. Funny, when we do that, they are the only ones that fly away, the Mockingbirds, Cardinals, Carolina Wrens all stay.

no one has touched my store bought in 4 days now, but my homemade stuff is almost gone. They like it alot better. must be the bacon bacon bacon grease LOL

I think they like my homemade suet because of the peanut butter...wish the other birdies had a chance to try it! Grrrrr

Nice pic of the European Starling Rose; thats what I'm dealing w/ right now.

Thanks Pelle, I liked your shot on another thread. They really are a pretty bird but kind of gross at the dinner table!!

Hi! I am new to this forum but have read about everyone making their own suet. I just started making a mix for all the birds at my feeders. I just used what I had. PB, cormeal, oats, raisins, dried cranberries and sunflower seed , I cut the bottom off some old soda bottles and wired it to tree limbs . The birds loved it, already made two batches. Love to watch the birds . We have some really big woodpeckers and they are so fun to watch!

That's a neat idea, using the soda bottles and hanging it from a tree, I have so far put mine in a bowl and set it on the squirrel feeder that's a flat board on the tree, I like your idea better. I'll have to buy some 2 litter bottles LOL

I've noticed a couple varieties of woodpeckers, but haven't been fortunate enough to grab a photo of them yet.

Welcome to the Bird Watching forum clerkie!

We have a "Sticky" thread here w/ lots of suet recipes posted in the second post.

I made the first recipe (Grandma one with cayenne pepper) yesterday.

pelle--does the cayenne really work?

The starlings have discovered my yard now and I'm bringing my suet in for a few days, hoping they'll go away. Sometimes that works. I can't afford to feed the starlings these days--they are way too greedy...especially with the price of peanuts so high.

There is no trans fat Crisco (with the green label) that might be a bit better for the birds, don't really know though how their bodies react to human food...

Can you get a good deal on 'natural' peanut butter somewhere? It seems so expensive to me.... am I the only cheapie in the bunch, here?!?

Hi Tabasco, I'm a cheapie too. I use crisco and buy store brand crunchy peanut butter. (We don't eat peanut butter.) I buy the biggest cornmeal bag I can get for the best price. The birds don't seem to be gourmets, at least not the bunch that come for suet here. Becky

I need to get some cayenne powder to mix with the sunflower seeds. I have 5 squirrels at the feeders today. I had to holler at them every l0 minutes or so to scare them off LOL

tabasco,I have the store bought hot pepper suet and its been out for a few weeks and the squirrels haven't touched it. I wouldn't put any nuts in the suet maybe just raisins.

The one I made w/ nuts I put on a baffled pole.

Next time I'll just be putting raisins in it to hang in the tree.

This message was edited Jan 30, 2008 5:29 AM

But the woodpeckers love those peanuts so! )-: I can't bear to leave them out!

Who likes the raisins? ... just my blue jays, and they seem to do OK at the feeders anyway, those bully boys...any other birds like raisins?

Maybe bluebirds and orioles like (cut up) raisins? But they eat suet from platform feeders only, right? (Goes without saying, I don't have BB or Orioles, for that matter!)

Does Costco have a five gallon jug of cayenne? That is something I'm missing in my recipe....If Costco has 5 gallon jugs of peanut butter it would be worth joining just for a suet ingredient run these days...

Welcome to DG, clerkie! Please tell us what kind of woodpeckers are enjoying your suet-- and if you haven't already--please post a pic of your suet feeder idea on the 'feeder thread' too! I'm curious!

Yeah, DH got mad at me the other day when he found out my suet wasn't cookies. He shook his head in such disapointment.

When I figure out how to post pic I will do that. I have to ask my son how things are done and it depends on his mood if he shows me or tells me I need to be shown over and over.LOL! As for the woodpeckers I know they are large with red heads I think maybe pilated is that right. They are fun to watch almost like clowns. We feed our dogs in bowls outside and when they are done the birds swoop down to get the corn pieces out. A woodpecker could not figure out how to get in the bowl so it just fell in. It popped it's head back up as if to say so thats how it's done. It enjoyed itself till the corn ran out.

clerkie.....that is just too funny about the woodpecker falling into the dogs bowl. It does sound like it is a piliated woodpecker. They are huge and have that amazing red crest. I have one that shows up occassionally. Every time I see her, it just stops me dead in my tracks.

That is too funny about your woodpecker! Here's the link on the Pileated--It does look like a weird kind of clown, doesn't it?

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pileated_Woodpecker.html

Well, kathy, maybe we can design a suet recipe that will be a treat for the DHs and the birds both. Then the DHs won't feel ignored and we can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak... (-;

Lots of business at the feeders today. Storm coming in, I think. No one at my heated blue bowl, though....boo hoo!

Look at this pileated video
http://www.birdsamore.com/videos/piwo-eatingapple.htm
Lots of great videos at this site

This is the pileated woodpecker that I managed to photograph last Fall. Unfortunately, the pic was taken through a window, and it was hammering away at the tree so fast that its head is just a blur. (This is actually the best of 3 pics that I managed to take.)

Judy, I love the Red-shafted Flicker dance.

Nice pic marie!

Hey, I saw one of those today out side, I can never get good pics of them either, cause I'm always taking the shots through the window.

kathy_ann--maybe you saw an Ivory billed woodpecker--arkansas is Ivory billed territory, isn't it?

If you see one, be sure to report it! (-:

Hi Kathy,
I just render the animal fat and mix in some bird seed and chopped peanuts. Suet is usually beef fat, but I use anything but bacon. (too many chemicals and salt). I put the "bits" strained out of it onto a tray feeder that the crows go to. Those guys will eat anything.
All in all, try to remember that this isn't rocket science. They will be just as happy with with just the rendered fat.
Nan

you know, I forgot all about the bacon having so much salt. Here I was trying to do everything I could for a healthy suet and i'm using bacon grease LOL

I'll have to remember that . thanks

My parents have actually been known to put a big hunk of non-rendered suet in a net onion bag, and nail it to a tree. It's no work and the birds think it's just great.

Thanks for the compliment on my pic....but you're just being nice. It's not really very good, but it is better than missing the moment. If I had tried to go outside it would have been gone in a flash.

Marie, I like that idea from your folks. I use my moms easy method for feeding the flickers and woodpeckers - just spread peanut butter on the bark of a tree you have seen them on. I have wired suet blocks onto the tree too as it keeps the animals from getting to them. I make sure to put out food for those piggy squirells and that has finally helped keep them out of the BIRD feeders.

I looked at the pictures Judy- Tabasco- Marie posted and guess what. My woodpecker is not a pileated mine is large black and white red head but it does not stick up. The feathers are black and white puts me in mind of checkered. I have young ones and older ones and they are all fun to watch. I really like in the spring time when the yellow finches come they are beautiful. I am going to have to learn how to post pics so I can take some. I only had the woodpecker this morning at the feeder- it was so quiet out. We are supposed to get in some snow so maybe they are all hiding. We have pairs of turtle doves (I think) that eat around the feeders on the ground have you ever heard them coo and talk to each other. For some reason it reminds me of water running over rocks so pretty. Then there are the Blue Jays they need practice lol. Hope everyone has a nice day rain or shine or snow!!!!!!!!!!

clerkie--here are some pics of woodpeckers in missouri that I googled. Maybe one like yours is pictured here?

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=woodpecker+missouri&btnG=Search+Images

I think it might be a male Downey Woodpecker, Clerkie..
RH WP are solid black and solid white, with a solid red head

:-)

Thanks tabasco- I really liked that link. I think it is a red bellied woodpecker if my son is home this weekend I will try to get a picture and have him show me how to post it.debnes- I do have downy woodpeckers and never knew what their names were. I like to watch them also they are very quick! I had alot of both at the feeder this morning. My fav. bird is the cardinal I don't care if it is male or female I think they are beautiful. The males always remind me of my grandfather- when he was alive he had cattle that were more like very large dogs lol each had it's own feed pan and the red cardinals ate just as good as the cattle. Grandpa also made alpo sandwiches for his dogs 2 pieces of bread and alpo in the middle each dog got two. He loved his animals! Kinda got off track from woodpeckers- lol. Hope everyone has a great day!