suet cakes

[chad s]

Ok, I make homemade suet cakes for the wild birds in the winter. Is it ok to feed to the chickens? It's made using lard, oatmeal, thistle, raisens, nuts, and what ever elseI have laying around.

 

[ralleia]

Sounds fine!

I made the mistake yesterday of sitting out in the lawn chair to refill my suet log with my homemade suet (beef lard, chunky peanut butter, sugar, cornmeal, flour, oats, wolfberries, dried fruit, nyger seed, crushed eggshell). At least a half-dozen chickens promptly mobbed me, one trying to peck through my suet bag, and a RIR trying to eat my finger.

Chickens LOVE the stuff--I actually feed birds all-year (the nuthatches especially love taking hunks of the suet to their nestlings), so my chickens will only be getting the crumbs that fall off or the hunks that I throw to try to distract them from me! Next time I'll be prepared.

 

[hbwbk]

There is a recipe for a forage cake as it goes

couple pcs stale bread 5 or 6 will do1/2 to 3/4 cups water let soak till all water gone.2eggs
add cracked corn, pumpkin seeds, boss, dried blueberries, oatmeal ,no sugar granola and peanut butter and any thing you have left around
put into spring form pan bake 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs turn off oven and let cool in oven to dry.

This came from one of the other people here and it sounds wonderful I make my own suet to so I will start with these in the fall.
They have so much to munch during the summer months.

You can make a freezer block of ice for the birds also during the summer time just add seed and such to the water before freezing it also helps to keep the girls cool during hot days.
Also a ball with all kinds of greens is cool for them. If you hang it a little higher they have to work to get it.