Homemade Bird Treats and More!

Caring for your sweet bird friends.  Here you have some good ideas and recipes that you can create yourself for your own bird or for your outside wild bird friends.

 
FIRST...
 Cleaning your bird cage is one of the most important parts of caring for your bird.  Here is a video showing how.  Cages, no matter for one bird or many, should be kept as clean as possible to avoid disease...not to mention smelly messes!









 Special treats for your pet can be very expensive, especially if they are 'treat-a-holics'...lol. Here are a few ideas for making your own treats for them. This is also not only a good way to save money but a good way to know EXACTLY what you are feeding your pet or your wild birds. You will KNOW what they get is 'good for them!'.

Homemade Treat Recipes (Of course, always check with your vet first! All breads of birds vary in their diet requirements.)
Bird   Bread                                                                                 Just keep the cat away from the bird bread!

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup raisins
1 cup diced apple
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
This versatile bread is great for most types of pet birds. The recipe
here will make a nice pair of apple-carrot-zucchini flavored loaves,
but the recipe is intended for you to make it in any flavor you (or
your pet) would like! Simply substitute the carrot and zucchini for
any fruit or vegetable. Some good choices are: blueberries,
cranberries, bananas, broccoli, squash, cauliflower, green beans, raspberries, spinach, nuts, pineapple, etc., but you can use whatever you might like!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the corn muffin mix, the eggs, milk and vegetable oil. Mix well, using an electric mixer on a medium speed if desired. Blend completely. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix them in, by hand. Stir or mix well, until the ingredients have been consistently incorporated into the mixture. Prepare 2 loaf pans by greasing them with margarine or oil. Then pour the batter evenly into the two pans.

Place the pans into the preheated oven. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the bread id firm and golden. A toothpick inserted into the center of either loaf should come out clean. When the bread is

finished baking, remove it from the oven. Allow the bread to cool completely, then slice it or cut it into individual sized portions. Any leftovers can be frozen until ready to use. Makes about 2 small loaves.

Bagel Bites
1 whole wheat bagel
peanut butter
raisins
bird seed

The recipe is simple enough to allow you to make as little or a much
as you need, so you won’t get stuck with a monster sized batch of
goodies, for one tiny bird. It’s a bit messy, but so easy and so tasty!”
With a knife, cut the bagel into appropriate-sized pieces for your bird.
You can make as many of these as you would like. Spread peanut
butter in a thin layer over all surfaces of the bagel. Then dip the bagel
piece in the seeds. Roll it around until all the pieces are coated well
with seeds, and the bagel is no longer sticky. Set the coated bagel
piece aside. Repeat with the remaining bagel pieces, making as many
as desired. Stick a raisin or two onto the center of each bagel bite.
The bagel bites are ready to be served immediately, or they can be
refrigerated briefly, until ready to serve.

Birdie Breakfast Cereal
1/4 cup instant oatmeal
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped fruit (your choice)
Add the oatmeal to a small, microwave-safe bowl. Then add just
enough water to cover the oatmeal. Place the bowl into the
microwave and cook it on the highest setting for about 1 minute.
After the minute is up, remove the bowl (carefully!) and stir the
oatmeal until all the water is absorbed and the oatmeal is soft and
cooked through.
Add the peanut butter, and stir it in until the peanut butter melts
and is completely dissolved into the oatmeal.
Finally stir in the fruit. Then let the mixture sit until is has cooled
considerably. When the mixture is cool to the touch, and is no longer
steaming at all, stir it again and serve it to your pet. Makes 1 serving,
but for smaller birds you can keep any leftovers in the refrigerator
until ready to use.

Party Mix
1 cup canary seeds
1/2 cup millet
1 cup hemp
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Mix and serve

Duck Treats
corn kernels
whole wheat or oats (not Quaker)
other goodies
Mix together and feed.

Grapenut Crunch
1 package cornmeal mix (without sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup seeds or pellets
1 cup grapenuts cereal
2 jars carrot baby food
2 jars squash baby food
1 pkg. cornmeal mix, no sugar kind. Mix into the mix 2 whole eggs
with well washed shell, 1 c. milk and 2 tbls. melted butter or oil. Grind
1/2 pellets with 1 cup grapenuts and mix into the batter. Add 2 jars
baby food carrots and 2 jars baby food squash. Place in greased pan.
Set oven temperature at 400 and bake until done. Freeze in daily
serving sizes.

Munchy Seed Bagel
bagel
honey
seeds
First put the honey on the bagel. Then put the bird seed on and
give to your birds

Pancake Delight
Pancake mix
fruit
First make the pancake mix then add in the fruit or vegetables. Then
cook like normal pancakes.

Berry Seed Mix
sunflower seeds
millet spray
sliced grapes
sliced strawberries
blueberries
Take a bowl and take the shells off the sunflower seeds and put the
seeds in the bowl add the millet spray into the bowl slice some grapes
in small pieces add to bowl add small sliced strawberries then add the
blueberries to the bowl.

Seed Cookies
bread dough
seeds
Roll out the bread dough, shape the bread dough into small balls,
place the seeds on the balls and than cook at 350 'F for 9 min.

Seed Mix
1 piece of bread
corn on the cob
sunflower seeds
Pluck off some corn and put in a bowl, ear off small pieces of bread
put in bowl, mix in sunflower seeds.
                                                                                                                     Don't recommend this!
Summer Suet
3 cups cornmeal
1 cup flower
3 tablespoons baking powde
r2/3 cup oil
3 1/2 soy milk
1 cup nuts
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
Mix together the cornmeal, flour, and baking soda. Whisk in the oil
and soy milk. Stir in nuts and cayenne. Pour into an oiled 13x9x2"
pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut
into 6 suet feeder sized pieces. Suet can be stored in a freezer

Winter Suet
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups shortening
2 cups flower
6 cups cornmeal
Melt peanut butter and shortening in a large pot. Stir in four and
cornmeal. Turn dough onto a waxed paper lined 13x9" pan. Cut into
rectangles for use in a suet feeder. Suet can be stored in a freezer

Pinecone Snack
1 pinecone
fat or peanut butter
seeds
Put the fat or peanut butter on the pinecone, then place seeds on
the cone. Finally hang it outside for your birds to enjoy.

Hummingbird Nectar
Do not use honey nor red dye!
Use a ratio of 4 parts boiling water to 1 part sugar. Cool before filling
your feeder. Store any unused syrup in the refrigerator for up to 3
days.
Always clean your feeder thoroughly before adding fresh nectar.

Feeder Stick Recipe
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup lard - any animal fat will do
1 cup flour
3 cups corn meal
Mix well. You can add peanut hearts or seed to the mixure. Store
unused mixture in a cool place

Woodpecker Goo
Get a log or piece of untreated wood. Drill holes in it, about 1/2" to 1"
in diameter. You can also attach a perch if you want. Render the suet
as normal but do not strain. Leave the small bits of meat in also, cut
them up if necessary. Let cool. Push the soft suet in the holes and
hang on a feeder pole.

Hard Suet Tidbit Cakes
1/2 lb. fresh ground suet
1/3 cup sunflower seed
2/3 cup wild bird seed (mix)
1/8 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup raisins
Melt suet in a saucepan over low heat. Allow it to cool thoroughly, then
reheat it.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Allow the suet
to cool until slightly thickened, then stir it into the mixture in the bowl.
Mix thoroughly. Pour into pie pan or form, or pack into suet feeders

No Melt Summer Suet
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup suet or lard
2 cups "quick cook" oats, (I'm sure any will do)
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup white flour
Melt lard & peanut butter.
Stir in other ingredients. If it seems runny, add more flour.
Fill small plastic margarine containers about 1/2 full, then freeze.
Remove from container; wrap, keep in freezer.