Bird suet

I just took a pot of rendered deer fat out of the oven and made up some bird blocks with black sunflower seed and the rest getting about three pounds of creamy peanut butter stirred in thoroughly. Woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees love the stuff. The cracklings that are strained out of the liquid fat get packed into plastic one pound coffee canisters. When cooled and the fat set, the canisters get sliced on two sides and the cracklings are put in a round cage. Woodpeckers will sit on that for an hour chipping away.

I had about 18 pounds of deer fat all trimmed nice with little meat attached and put it in the oven at about 10 this morning and took it out at 2, at 325 degrees. The house smells like a good roast in the oven. The birds will be happy this winter.

Very cool. Got to be good to the birds!

I built my first bird feeder this year. Hung three total. Not sure if it is a sign of age or hating the long lifeless winters up here or both. But I conceded.

You don’t even need to render the fat. I have a large suet feeder that I just put the slabs of fat in. The birds will pick the pieces clean and all your left with sometimes is little pieces of meat and a membrane occasionally. Just have to clean that out occasionally and put fresh pieces in

Nick Schmitz wrote:

You don’t even need to render the fat. I have a large suet feeder that I just put the slabs of fat in. The birds will pick the pieces clean and all your left with sometimes is little pieces of meat and a membrane occasionally. Just have to clean that out occasionally and put fresh pieces in

I used to do that but I mix the peanut butter in and use the suet to stuff holes in a birch log that I hang and I also make suet cakes from the rendered fat/peanut butter with sunflower seeds mixed in. The cracklings, what’s left after the fat has been rendered, are used in a regular suet cage like what you might put the raw fat in.