Homemade flock block recipes

[ldemmert]

Does anyone use flock block as an antidote for boredom? Do chicken beaks grow like other birds' so they need pearing down? During the non-snowy seasons, my birds are free range and I've not worried about this. Now, they don't get the natural grinding down as much since they are in the coop most of the day.
I saw Moodene's baked treat recipe. Are there other cookie or block recipes to share?

 

[joebryant]

Geeeeeesh!
I don't want to EVER hear from you people again that I spoil MY chickens.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
hi..here is the recipe..

Ingredients:..Bread slices, wild bird seed,Black sun flower seeds, (you can also use scratch, oatmeal, wheat germ, grits, whatever you want to use!..)

In a large mixing bowl..wet the bread slices..add the seed and scratch..(whatever you choose to add)...mix all the ingredients together(with your hands)..the wet bread is the binder..it makes a kind of dough....grease a microwave safe baking pan...add the bread/seed mixture to the pan...press down tightly with a spatula...put in microwave oven for 5 minutes..keep testing hardness with finger(it will take about 20 minutes total...)...when you feel it is hard enough..take out and let cool...it will harden even more...if you greased the pan enough..it will pop right out of the pan in one solid block..they love it!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yep, mine's in the oven too. I'll let ya know about mine even if it is a disaster! Just please don't tell my SO I'm baking for my chickens. He already thinks I need professional help for my chook obsession.

 

[Dawn419]

I make "chicken cookies" occassionally for our gang.

I don't have a recipe, I just use whatever I have handy. Usual ingredients include oatmeal, sunflower seeds, rice, kitchen scraps/left-overs (meat chopped up included), scratch or cracked corn and several eggs to help act as a binder.

I put this in a lightly greased 13" x 9" glass baking dish and bake it at 300 degress until it starts smelling good. Pull it out of the oven, let it cool (sometimes put it in the fridge to cool it quicker). Once it's cool, I cut it into suet-basket sized pieces and let the flock have at it.

Can't count the number of times poor Skip has walked in while I'm making this up and comment about "something sure smells good in here" only to be shot down with my reply of, "Sorry, it's for the birds!".

Dawn

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Honey and molasses both worry me. I believe molasses is a mild laxative and I wouldn't use honey for the same reason.
Egg would probably be a better binder.

for mine..the bread binds it together very tightly...

 

[HennysMom]

THANK YOU WENDY!

I'm going to make them this today..

Oh boy.. hubby's REALLY gonna think I've gone off the deep end now!

 

[HarryBun12]

I mixed premium bird seed, oats, wheat bran, peanuts and any other bits of goodness the chickens like with a piece of bread that had been soaked in water and a beaten egg. Then I packed that into mini-bundt cake pans I have. I baked them in a slow oven for an hour or so until they are set. After they have cooled I can run a string through the hole in the center made by the pan and hang it in the run. I love to watch the chickens as they track the spinning block of seed!

 

[gritsar]

Okay, mine looks like it came out great.
Here's what I used:

3 cups finely ground corn (their scratch)
1 1/2 cup wild bird seed
1 cup of oatmeal

Enough water to moisten the mixture, but not make it soupy
Packed firmly into a greased shallow baking dish
Baked at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until the edges were brown

Tomorrow morning we'll see how the vultures, I mean chickens like it. I may experiment with using some sort of binder for the next batch

I also called my SO and warned him not to eat the "cake" on the table. When he comes in from work @ 4 AM, he normally eats whatever's handy.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Honey and molasses both worry me. I believe molasses is a mild laxative and I wouldn't use honey for the same reason.
Egg would probably be a better binder.