Question about suet birdfeeders.
Apr 1, 2018 10:47:21 #
YNY
Loc: Youngstown NY (Western New York)
Do birds ever finish the suet and seed cakes (regular size) I put in those wire basket holders? It seems they eat from them when I first put them out but then two weeks later they are still unfinished. I think woodpeckers and nuthatches can still get to what is in the basket if they wanted to. Do I need to throw them out and replace at some regular interval? Thanks in advance for your experience and advice.
YNY.
YNY.
Apr 1, 2018 10:54:13 #
Let Them In If There Is A Big Piece Left. You Must Not Have Any Raccoons In Your Area Or They Would Be Cleaned Out Every Night.
Apr 1, 2018 10:57:38 #
Ours are completely devoured by the birds. (We may have more birds visit than you do.)
We just leave them there until they get down to a size where another brick can be added to the basket.
We just leave them there until they get down to a size where another brick can be added to the basket.
Apr 1, 2018 10:58:10 #
They always seem to do that with store-bought suet, but eat every bite of homemade. Easy to make. Just use equal parts of lard (sold at Wal-Mart in bricks), crunchy peanut butter and black sunflower seeds. Melt the lard and PB, remove from heat and stir in seeds. Ladle into small containers about one inch deep. Allow to cool, refrigerate, then store in the freezer. I use cheap aluminum foil type pans and cut the frozen suet into smaller pieces with a sharp knife. Birds love it!!
Apr 1, 2018 11:20:40 #
HamBar06
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
I just use purchased suet blocks and they disappear quickly in our backyard here in Philadelphia. We see mostly various sparrows, finches and occasional woodpeckers and other larger but unidentified birds. One bird that I chase when seen is the Starling.. nasty creatures!
Thanks though for the recipe for doing your own. I will have to try it, but will substitute hulled sunflower seeds....I used to fill feeder with black oil seeds but gave up when I had to clean up such mess from the planting beds.
Larry [HamBar06].
Thanks though for the recipe for doing your own. I will have to try it, but will substitute hulled sunflower seeds....I used to fill feeder with black oil seeds but gave up when I had to clean up such mess from the planting beds.
Larry [HamBar06].
Apr 1, 2018 12:19:19 #
DIRTY HARRY
Loc: Hartland, Michigan
Never had any trouble with "left overs" in my suet cakes. I get mine at Family Farm & Home or Rural King Farm Stores in our area .. sometime TSC (Tractor Supply Co.). They run about $.70 each ... sometime less on sale. They disappear quickly, especially when those @#$%^@ black birds or starlings a,d sometimes Crows come around... Some of these come in a "cup" and others nothing around them.. The cup doesn't slow the birds any and sometimes they just punch through the backside and feed from there. At $.70 each don't know if it's worth doing my own.
Apr 1, 2018 13:00:26 #
MichaelH
Loc: NorCal via Lansing, MI
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
Never had any trouble with "left overs" ... (show quote)
The plastic "tray" the suet comes in is for easier handling. If for some reason you want the birds to eat from only one side of the suet container (like for posing them for photographs) it would work to put a piece of wood on one side of the feeder and pop the suet out of the plastic tray so the birds aren't messing your yard with plastic bits or worse, eating them. And at $.70 it would be hard to justify making your own.
Apr 1, 2018 14:32:06 #
DIRTY HARRY
Loc: Hartland, Michigan
Understand: however, that doesn't keep some of the the larger woodpeckers from drilling a hole and eating from any direction they want to... I tried to tell them "only from the front" but they don't want to listen to me.
Apr 1, 2018 16:31:55 #
The advice from the RSPB is: if you start to feed birds - Keep on doing so! Birds that have learned to find food in your garden Stop looking elsewhere.
Pick up discarded seed as it can encourage rats and mice.
Supply water - seeds are dry.....
Have fun
Pick up discarded seed as it can encourage rats and mice.
Supply water - seeds are dry.....
Have fun
Apr 2, 2018 06:45:51 #
Another option: your local grocery store can probably sell you some big chunks of beef fat. You can hang that in a mesh bag like those that citrus fruit comes in. The birds love it, and it is cheap.
Apr 2, 2018 07:59:58 #
My experience has been that if you are in a cold spell the birds will eat it all. The suet helps them generate heat. Here's a good one for you. In warmer weather they may leave quite a bit of the cake, then one day you look and it is all gone. Then in a day or so, it turns cold. I think they can forecast the weather better than all the computerized equipment the weather man has access to. I buy store-bought at a farm store.
Apr 2, 2018 08:12:02 #
As someone who is an avid feeder, I've found birds here prefer homemade suet and never leaves any pieces. We purchase the plain suet cakes, melt them, add chunky peanut butter, and stir in a few sunnie chips. This mixture is packed into holes, 1.5-2", that have been drilled into pieces of old pruned branches and hung up. We also pack this mixture between the scales of large pinecones and hang them on branches (nuthatches and chickadees love these)...as I said we are avid feeders...
Apr 2, 2018 08:35:00 #
It seems the birds like some brands more than others. We get the downy and hairy wood peckers on a every day and the headed only occasionally. Both male and female eastern blue bird and a verity of the smaller birds will nibble. The squirrels will help in the consumption of all the bird feed. For a while we had a male squirrel that would knock on the door when the feeders were empty. He knew we were the source of food; but would run when we went out to fill the feeders. I have a little compassion for the tree rats as neither the walnut or pecan trees produced usable nuts last year. The nut meat was mushy so the squirrels were looking for free food.
If i hear the raccoons at night they may not survive the event. I raise chickens and raccoons have broken into the cage and killed the birds. I rebuilt the cage last year using chain link fence and chicken wire and have not had a problem.
If i hear the raccoons at night they may not survive the event. I raise chickens and raccoons have broken into the cage and killed the birds. I rebuilt the cage last year using chain link fence and chicken wire and have not had a problem.
Apr 2, 2018 09:16:32 #
I make my own suet. That is NEVER a problem. And it isn't terrible expensive considering how much you get.
Apr 2, 2018 09:17:30 #
I make my own suet. That is NEVER a problem. And it isn't terribly expensive considering how much you get.
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