How To Make Money Making Bird Treats

With the weather condition getting colder, the leaves falling from the trees and the shutting down of my garden for the season. I am turning my attention to my DIY To-Do list. This is a very long list and sure to keep me busy all winter long. It contains such ventures equally making a new dining room table, installing a forest floor in my bedroom, making a blanket ladder and making some scrabble messages for my dining room wall. Those are much more labour intensive than this DIY which was also on my list.

So I idea it best to start small and work upwardly to the bigger ones. Plus, this DIY for wild bird treats with no corn syrup has the power to give dorsum to the native birds that overwinter here in Ontario. Or at least to those ones that choose to pass through my back k. 'Cause that'south where the treats at!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, pregnant, at no additional cost to y'all, I will earn a commission if yous click through and make a buy.

If you're like me, so you love natural biodiversity in your one thousand. The key is naturally bringing in the ones you want and discouraging the ones y'all don't! If you are struggling with garden pests then you may want to check out my postal service on sixteen garden pests and how to deal with them. But birds are e'er welcome in my yard, peculiarly in the winter. This twelvemonth I had a pair or two of goldfinches lay their claim on my yard.

I loved existence out in my garden this summertime and hearing them singing and hanging nigh as I went about my gardening. I look so forward to the day I tin purchase some land and start to build my homestead from the footing up. When I finally get my land, I program to practice biodiverse farming on my homestead merely that is a story for another 24-hour interval.

Today we were supposed to be making suet cakes for some backyard birds simply that chop-chop went down the bleed. After multiple calls to local butchers, I discovered that NOBODY (well butchers and grocery stores) will obviously sell raw suet anymore due to it being an E. coli gamble. No corporeality of begging and pleading on my part would change their minds. Which totally sucks equally I wanted information technology for two reasons. I for the suet cakes and the other to render it into tallow to use in some cold procedure soap making. Simply alas, until I can find someone to be my suet dealer I am finding myself having to pivot. Luckily peanut butter works a amuse and so this post is saved. That said peanut butter is non going to work for the soap!

Now I should state that you lot tin buy pure suet cakes so I Volition be doing a post on making suet bird treats. Non sure if that will pan out for employ equally tallow in my cold process soap, I still need to do more research.

Practice wild birds need winter treats?

No they don't, but that doesn't mean they won't enjoy them. I mean I don't demand the tub of Haagen Daaz ice cream either but I enjoy it and it fattens me upwards. Same for the birds, except they tin benefit from the actress fat due to them having to survive outside all wintertime. Me not so much 🙂

Recipe #1

This 1 is the easiest and quickest. Now, that is not to imply that the other ones are hard only I had to list them in some order so this is how I decided to exercise it. The other benefit to these ones is that if it does warm upward a wee chip they have the pinecone in that location as a base construction. The other ones may autumn to the basis if the temperature rises every bit the twine/ribbon doesn't take a solid base if the treat is no longer frozen. In that case yous have bird treat mush, but even then someone will brand the about of information technology!

Pinecone & peanut butter bird treats

These are such an easy DIY and great to involves pocket-size kids in. You lot don't need anything fancy and the wild birds (and squirrels) volition thank you for their wintertime treats!

Prep Fourth dimension 15 mins

Freezing time 1 hr

Total Fourth dimension 1 hr fifteen mins

Pinecones
Butter knife or spatula for footling kids
Twine or ribbon
Small dish or bowl for the birdseed
Cookie sheet
Aluminum foil

Peanut butter
Wild bird seed
Black oiled sunflower seeds

Tie the twine around the tiptop of the pinecone and form a loop for hanging.
In a small-scale dish, pour some birdseed and sunflower seeds
Comprehend cookie canvas with aluminum foil
Using a butter knife or spatula cover the entire pinecone in peanut butter.
Scroll and printing the peanut butter covered pinecone into the seeds.
Place the pinecones on the cookie canvass and pop them in the freezer for 1 hour so they tin firm upwards.
Hang them outside for the birds, making certain to hang them where there is a branch underneath for them to perch on.

Recipe #ii

OK, and so full disclosure, this is more like two ^1/ii recipes. This one uses almost of the same ingredients equally Recipe #ane did simply with a wee tweak. Only sayin'. I wouldn't recommend putting these ones outside until you know the temperature volition stay below freezing. Why? Well at that place is no base of operations structure if the mixture isn't frozen. And so the first ones I always put out are the pinecone treats.

Homemade Peanut Butter Treats for Wild Birds

Prep Time 15 mins

Freezer Fourth dimension 3 hrs

Total Time iii hrs fifteen mins

Servings: six

Wide oral cavity mason jar lid rings (or other moulds)
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Measuring cups
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Twine or ribbon
Popsicle stick

1 cup Peanut butter (I would propose crunchy)
1½ cup Wild birdseed
½ cup Sunflower seeds

Add birdseed and sunflower seeds to the large mixing bowl
Add together in the peanut butter
Mix using the spatula until everything is incorporated
Line the cookie sheet in parchment newspaper and place your moulds on it
Scoop the birdseed mixture into all the moulds and pack it down
Use the popsicle stick to make a hole in each treat. Make sure not to make the hole too close to the edge every bit there needs to be enough material so it tin can support its ain weight. If in doubt, just make the hole in the centre.
Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for almost 3 hours (or until frozen solid)
Remove from the freezer and add together twine or ribbon to each one.
Identify these wild bird treats outside one time the temperature is consistently staying below freezing.

You could reduce the amount of bird seed by ane/2 cup and replace information technology with the same amount of cornmeal or stale fruit.

Recipe #3

Ok then this one is hardest, which isn't saying much every bit this isn't difficult at all. But from a relative perspective, to the other two recipes it is. So it'due south concluding on the listing. The primary thing that I desire to point out about this ane is that is has NO high fructose corn syrup in it. Most of the other recipes you lot will find out at that place on Pinterest or Google will have information technology listed equally a recipe.

So why don't I include information technology in my recipe? Well, high fructose corn syrup is no expert for u.s. and we are way bigger than the wee wild birds. So by that logic I presume information technology must exist even worse for them. So in the interest of everyone's health let's just go out that stuff alone (seriously it'southward not good for you). It'due south definitely not function of their natural nutrition either. So I like to make all my wild bird treats with no corn syrup.

DIY Wild Bird Treats (with NO corn syrup)

Prep Time 20 mins

Freezing Time 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 20 mins

Servings: 4

Kettle
Spatula
Mixing bowl
Broad mouth mason jar lid rings (or other moulds)
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Popsicle stick
Twine or ribbon
Measuring spoons

¼ Loving cup Cold tap water
1 Pkg Gelatin (I used Knox brand)
¼ Cup Boiling water
i Loving cup Wild bird seed
½ Cup Black oiled sunflower seeds

Fill up your kettle and prepare it to boil
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Pour ¼ loving cup of common cold h2o into a big mixing bowl and sprinkle the gelatin pulverization on top.
Then cascade in ¼ cup of humid water into the mixing bowl and stir constantly for ii minutes.
Once the 2 minutes is upward, become alee and add your seeds and give it a stir.
The mixture can be a chip runny, and then pop it in the fridge for nearly 10 minutes.
When the mixture isn't runny anymore, fill your mason jar lids on the cookie canvass.
Using a popsicle stick, brand a hole in each treat. Brand sure non to go too shut to the border and so that at that place is enough material to back up the weight on the treat when you hang it. If in doubt, simply make the hole in the center.
Then popular the cookie sail into the freezer for well-nigh 2-iii hours.
One time the treats are completely frozen, run a butter knife around the edge of the mas jar lid and pop them out.
Thread the twine or ribbon through the hole and tie it in a knot.
Identify these wild bird treats exterior when the temperature is consistently below freezing.

So there y'all accept it, my three different recipes for wild bird treats with no corn syrup. I'd love to hear how they work out for yous. Did you add together in whatsoever dried fruit? Did the birds in your surface area like them or did the squirrels get them all starting time? I watched ane pesky squirrel steal a pinecone ane this morning time as I was sipping on my morning coffee!

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