Hi, Thank you Lisa for recommending sialis.org. They have a LOT of great suet recipes. This is what they say about lard vs. vegetable shortening: "(Beef or Sheep) Suet vs. (Pig) Lard vs. Vegetable Shortening (Crisco, etc.): All work in suet recipes, as long as you adjust the dry ingredients (e.g., flour) to keep the texture crumbly. Vegetable shortening has a longer shelf life. Suet in its raw form should be avoided. Beef suet may turn rancid when temperatures exceed 70 degrees. When melted and clarified, beef suet is called "tallow." Tallow is less likely to go rancid over time; however it is not easily digested by birds because it is high in saturated fats. Some birders are concerned about the health impact of using vegetable shortening. * A nutritionist at the San Diego Zoo indicated that there is no health risk associated specifically with vegetable oil. * Dr. Sean Pampreen, an avian vet in Marlborough, CT, indicated he did not think that vegetable shortening used as a binder in suet (which is only a supplemental food for wild birds) would cause digestive problems, especially since sunflower, millet and peanut are about 45-56% oil. * Bill Whittaker of Four Nature's Keepers says saturated fats (such as in suet) are more difficult/require more energy for birds to digest than unsaturated fats (such as in vegetable shortening). They also found in field tests that after a familiarization period, birds prefer vegetable shortening. * Dr. Kirk Klasing, Professor of Avian Nutrition at UC Davis, said that very high amounts of fatty acids are difficult to emulsify by the bile, lowering digestibility. Adding a source of unsaturated fats, such as vegetable oil or lard, improves digestibility (e.g., 80% tallow, 20% vegetable oil or lard is a good combination - you can adjust the proportions to give the melting point desired). Peanut butter also works to increase digestibility of tallow because it is high in unsaturated fats. He was not aware of any evidence for a laxative effect of vegetable oil. Like tallow, vegetable shortening is solid at room temperatures. However, the hydrogenation used to make shortening results in lots of trans fatty acids. Though we don't know for sure, it is likely that the trans fatty acids are less healthy than "natural" cis fatty acids (unhydrogenated oils). In chickens, high levels of trans fatty acids deplete antioxidants in the tissues. It would be best to avoid high levels of vegetable shortening. * Crisco does make a zero-trans-fat shortening (in a green container.) * Another alternative is soybean shortening without additives, at as low a melting temperature (less saturation) as you can use to make an acceptable food. In terms of protein content, suet has about 0.4 grams of protein/oz. in it; lard and vegetable shortening have none. Both suet and vegetable shortening have about the same amount of calories and fat content. Beef suet has more saturated fat which may be harder to digest. JL Peterson found bluebirds preferred recipes made with suet. A friend reported bluebirds in her area preferred Crisco-based suets. Crisco does offer a zero-trans fat product. If you're concerned about using either of these ingredients, you can replace them with extra peanut butter until the mixture reaches the desired consistency." So, I will definitely be using vegetable shortening, I'm going to see if they have an organic version at the health food store. It just doesn't feel right to me to help out some animals by feeding them other animals. I'm also going to use raw peanuts and seeds instead of commercial peanut butter, like the birds would naturally eat. Cooking food kills all the enzymes which are so necessary for cells to be able to use the nutrients in the food. Here's the page where I got this info: http://www.sialis.org/suet.htm#crisco Best wishes, fellow bird lovers! April Here is a link that might be useful: Sialis info on crisco/vegetarian suet

If it is true I wonder if you could stick the meal worms in the freezer and save them to the fall time, I know they go dormant in the refrigerater but would sticking them in the freezer be too much for them, would you end up with dead meal worms. This would be practical for me since I've got about 1000 meal worms and the birds are not even touching them and it makes me wonder if the meal worms are killing them since I've got the last batch which so happen to be right before the last batch fledged two weeks ago, Never saw them again after they left, I expected them to stick around for the free meal worms, I hope they are still alive. And I'm not sure if this currect adult pair, if it is the same pair that had the first two clutches. I suspect one of them isn't and the other one ran off with the kids. Never the Less, this female has laid 5 eggs and has probably been sitting on them for a week, haven't been watching them as much as last clutch. Anyway many Questions and mysteries in life, Keith

You are probably correct about the corn and millet but my intended purpose is to photo document as many species of birds as I can. To that end I put out a large variety of foods that will attract all birds, whether they are consodered desirable or not. In fact,as long as I keep the feeders full I see very little actual competion between any of the species. Now I will freely admit that sometimes I have to refill the feeders 2 or 3 times a day and I scatter a considerable amount of seed as well as Bread, orange peels and apples on the ground but I get the apples free and 10 loaves of bread for a dollar, and there is an upside to this method. 1. The Squirrels actually prefer the bread.: . 2. generally the starlings and sparrows prefer to feed on the ground, here again, often preferring the bread to the seed, not to mention that there is a flock of 31 wild turkeys that come in shortly after daylight to get the bread and corn that is left on the ground. Even the Bluejays and Cardinals prefer to feed on the ground and often I see a half a dozen species of birds feeding right alongside a squirrel or chipmonk and on two oc occasions I have seen a groundhog feeding with the birds. Now I am sure that I could get a more selective clientele if I changed the menu but at my house Nobody goes away hungry.

I'm curious as to why you're adding sugar/corn syrup/molasses to what is essentially a home made suet cake regardless of what product you use to take the place of real beef suet. I would assume that the only natural "sweet" wild birds might encounter would probably be in fruits and/or berries of one kind or another... therefore the question. On the other hand, if you're using the sweeteners as "glue" to hold a seed ball together, it possibly makes more sense... As to the "glue" that holds commercially available seed blocks together, its typically gelatin (think of old time school glue with the rubber top that you'd bend over to dispense the glue) although I've always assumed that a flour or corn starch paste would also work if you could figure out the correct consistency and have some way to dry out the block. I started making my own suet cakes last year since our back yard birds won't touch the commercial types. Note that I only use it during cold weather (in addition to two seed type feeders) and the birds scarf it right down. Recipe is simple and absolute amounts of this or that might vary up or down depending on what I have on hand... *I ea. small block of lard (one lb. size). Bacon fat might work I in a pinch but would contain salt and chemical residues from the curing process. *1 ea. small jar of chunky peanut butter *Sizable portion of cornmeal (the more coarse the better) *Heaping handful or so of rolled oats (acts as a binder) although steel cut oats work almost as well *Big handful or more of raw peanuts whizzed through the food processor just enough to break into smaller bits. You can also do this by smacking the peanuts between a hard surface (the anvil) and the bottom of a heavy pan (the hammer) but it's a lot messier since the broken bits tend to scatter everywhere.. *Handful of black oil sunflower seeds *Handful of plain birdseed *About a half handful of raisins And some amount of shelled sunflower kernels (salt free), safflower kernels, or other natural bird goodies as you see fit and might have on hand. Melt all together over medium to low heat and add more oats as necessary to obtain the desired consistency. I use a metal cake pan to pour the goop into until nearly cool, cut into the size required, wrap in tinfoil or plastic wrap and then store in the frig until needed. Steve