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suet

15 years ago

I was going to get a log, drill some larger holes in it and fill them with suet. I've done this before and the birds loved it. The suet I used was just bacon fat with some bird seed in it. I read somewhere that bacon fat has to much salt in it for the birds so I was wondering, do you make your own suet or do you buy it ready made? Is it true about the excess salt? Thanks. Marg

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Comments (9)

beegood_gw
15 years ago
I've got a pound of pure lard and mixed it with bird seed and natural peanut butter and the birds just love.
donald lucius
15 years ago
i went to the libray a few years ago and read a backyard birders book that stated that bacon grease was ideal for wild birds in that they needed the energy from fat and the protein and salt i'll have to find the name of the book and post it
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WANTED: bird houses, bird feeders,suet mix cakes, homemade suet
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Hi Maureen, How are you. We havent talked for quite a while. I have a suet feeder with a suet cake in it. Its got a copper colored top and has 3 little glass beads that hang off the bottom. I hung it up for a month and it was completely ignored! Lol! I guess I will just stick to regular birdfeeders. If you are still looking for one just let me know. its great talking to you again! Darla
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I have an excellent book which someone gave me called "The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher Birdfeeders and bird Gardens" by Robert Burton & Stephen W. Kress, published by the Audubon Society on Thunder Bay Press. (ISBN 1-57145-186-2) Not only does this book have excellent pictures of birds, it has dozens of plans on how to make bird feeders, nesting boxes, bird baths and how to plant a landscape garden to attract birds. There is one whole chapter devoted to bird feeds and what birds they will attract. In addition to the common seeds and suet mixes they have a long list of table scraps that are great for attracting birds. They suggest making a wire cage and put your meat scraps in it, especially the fats that your trim off cooked hams or beef in addition to ham bones, beef marrow bones and even teh leftover turkey bones. A few other things that i found interesting was cooked spaghetti, cooked rice, uncooked pastry dough, baked potatoes with the skin on and stale cheese. Out of curiosity I baked a potato in the microwave, then sliced it in half and put it on my shelf feeder. It was a big hit with all the birds. Another thing that the birds here seem to like is orange peels. I saw a Blue jay pick up and orange peel that was 1/4 of the orange and fly off with it. If anyone is looking for a great how to book on building bird feeders or bird houses or making their own bird feeds I would highly recommend this one, especially if you are making bird feed because I am a bit skeptical of the health concerns for the birds when i read the recommendations of some books, but I don't think the Audubon Society would steer us wrong.
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Comments (3)
I put a fresh cake of commercial pure suet out and it wasn't touched. I recently bought some real beef suet from the grocer and noted a hairy woodpecker chipping away at it today. I've tried the suet cakes with seed in them but it appears the birds prefer just the plain ones. However, I'm puzzled why they're just not feeding like they used to.
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Put up suet feeder and only get squirrels :(.
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I hang my feeders off branches, off hooks, off chains....I've found my best option is to dose the suet and seed feeders with hot pepper. Even painted the tree I hang it all from. So far, I got almost zero furry critters, and a lot of happy birds. Almost zero- I have one squirrel that seems to have developed a bit of a taste for the hot. Even the birds leave the pepper seed alone in favor of other better seed. But I swear the one squirrel picks them out.
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kendra2003
15 years ago
I make my own suet. I use lard (in winter), chunky peanut butter, ground up sunflower seeds, sugar, corn meal, and some flour. I started making suet for the overwintering Bluebirds, but I also use it now in the suet log and the birds love it. My suet log attracted a hairy woodpecker, which was really cool for me because I'd never seen one before.
bedelia
15 years ago
I haven't done the suet thing yet but would like to try it. Do the squirrels eat it also? I don't want to encourage them to come around.
kaslkaos
15 years ago
I tried making my own suet once, including bacon grease, and the birds wouldn't touch. I just buy it now, the birds like it.
Yes, squirrels love suet. I chop the suet and stuff it into a steel peanut feeder. The holes are too small for squirrels to get at. When I used a suet cage, the squirrels would eat a block in a day or two.
I don't mind squirrels, but I can't afford to satisfy their appetites.
marricgardens
Original Author
15 years ago
kendra2: Why do you put the sugar in it? Does it add protein or is it just for their sweet beak?

bedelia: squirrels will eat just about anything you put out, they were always at the suet feeder log I had. It was funny watching them try to hang upside down to get at the suet but they always managed. I love watching their antics but I don't want them at my feeders so I put it well away from trees or fence.
terrene
15 years ago
I made a suet log 3 years ago and have been making a home-made suet mixture year-round since. It usually includes rendered suet, crunchy peanut butter, flour, corn meal, crushed nuts, etc. I sometimes put 1/2 cup of jam in the mixture, which sweetens it. The sugar provides extra energy for the birds in the winter. Recently I tried using lard from the supermarket, which is cheaper, and it worked equally well.

The birds LOVE this mixture! Many different birds eat it, even Sparrows and Juncoes jump up on the log and eat it. My faves are the Bluebirds - last winter I had up to 7 at one time, the most ever yet.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the relatively small amount of salt if bacon fat is used in a mixture. Straight up I'm not sure?
gldno1
15 years ago
I made up a batch day before yesterday using lard, peanut butter, cornmeal, flour and wild bird seed and sunflower seed.....so far they haven't found it. I may have to put it on the same tree with the other seed feeders.

I wish I could get up high enough to fill the holes left by the Pileated Woodpecker last year!
kendra2003
15 years ago
Marric,

As Terrene stated, the sugar is used to give them extra energy during the cold weather.

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