Homemade flock block recipes

[Redspeckledhen]

Quote:
My hens LOVE pine nuts. Our property is covered with pine trees. They peck the nuts out of all the wings that cover our yard. I collect a handful of them and the girls come running and pluck the nut right out leaving the empty wings!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I made a similar one last night (eggs, BOSS, almonds, raisins, apple, oatmeal) as inspired by this thread and smashed it down into an 8x8 and baked at 350 for 30 minutes. It was pretty hard on top but still smooshy a bit at the bottom when I cut it but they loved it. It probably didn't take them long to devour it, which is the point of the flock block. Oh well, our mistakes are their gain.

 

[nanawendy]

My girls loved theirs. It didn't get as hard as some spoke of so I might try a different combo next time.

 

[pookiegoldman]

Okay, I just made a flock block. I used hen's scratch, sunflower seeds, crimped oats, a little steel cut corn, a little cat food and a few slices of wet bread.
I only added a couple of tablespoons of water and pressed it in a microwave safe bowl, with a double-shot glass in the center for a hole. (dowel rod would also do) I was afraid that it would smell funky inside the house, so I took this one downstairs to our outdoor kitchen and nuked it about 14 minutes (mine was pretty thick). It actually smelled pretty good...like baking bread. It did turn out nice and hard. The bottom side was still a little glueish so I hung it up for an hour to dry.

Next time I will add 2 Tb. of flour to bind it further, and maybe flax seeds in it.
They were scared of it at first. I had to take it down and put it on the ground for the first one to gather the courage. They were more interested in the rope at first. After they knew it was food, I hung it up and they went at it!

 

[redhen]

Cool! Neat idea with the shot glass!

 

[boxermom]

So, is the trick to make hard cooking it in the microwave? That was a neat idea pookiegoldman.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Its what i do..and mine gets hard...
Not sure though...

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Well, I tried to make my own block too.

I used:

Cracked Corn
Mixed wild bird food
Oatmeal
Wheatbran
Raisins
Walnuts
Grit
Cut up apple (peeled & cored)
a lil molasses
a lil cayenne pepper
lard

I melted the lb of lard and mixed all the ingredients together. Put into a big plastic dish & microwaves for 5 minutes. I let it cool and put into the freezer overnight. This morning I took it out in order to cut into chunks & it all fell apart.

This is what it looked like:

After it fell apart, I mixed in 5 eggs, put into a sour cream container and microwaved for 3 minutes each. This is what came out. They are not hard, but they do not fall part now.

Here are the girls when they got one for a treat this afternoon. They didn't know what to think at first. When they figured it out, they went nuts. lol

 

[Carrie Lynn]

I wonder if the lard and/or the apple added too much moisture. The moisture may keep them from hardening up.
Looks like they sure enjoyed them though

 

[pookiegoldman]

Yeah the lard is what kept it from getting hard. I made a second batch today adding 2 TB flour, flax seeds, molasses and sesame seeds. It got much harder with the flour. Also the more time in the microwave is what makes it harder. I made 2 identical recipes same thickness, same bowl with the shot glass and the one I cooked 2 minutes longer is like a rock.