Suet Bird Feeders

Suet is made from animal fat and can provide birds with a high energy food source. This type of bird feed is suitable to put out during winter. Commercially available suet may contain peanuts, berries, fruits and mealworms. Suet is soft and can be formed into different shapes, though suet is commonly formed into a square shape to fit suet feeders. The suet in ready to use suet cakes are rendered and are less prone to spoiling and melting. They can also come in different flavors and are not messy to handle.

You can make your own suet if you want. Here are the steps on cooking suet:

1. Grind beef fat using meat grinder. If you don’t have a meat grinder, chopping the fat finely will do.
2. Heat the fat over low or medium heat until it liquefies.
3. Strain the melted fat with the use of fine cheesecloth.
4. Allow to cool and harden.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3. Fat should be rendered twice for suet to cake properly.
6. Allow to cool and harden. Store in a closed container and freeze.

You can use this suet to complete this suet recipe:

Basic Suet Recipe:
1 cup suet
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour

Steps:
1. Using a sauce pan, melt suet over low heat.
2. Add peanut butter and stir until thoroughly blended.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
4. Allow the suet to cool.
5. When suet is slightly thickened, stir the suet into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
6. Pour out into molds. Refrigerate until suet mixture is hardened.

Suet Bird Feeders are contraptions designed to hold suet or suet mixture. They can either be wire mesh cages or plastic mesh bags. Suet feeders can be nailed or tied to tree trunks. They can also be suspended from tree branches or poles. There are many styles of suet feeders available. The most commonly used type is the simple wire cage that is shaped and sized to hold commercially produced suet cake. Logs and pinecones can also be used as homemade suet feeders.

Suet feeders are best located in or close to trees and out of the open sun. This can help stop the suet from melting.

When trying to protect your bird feed from unwanted animals, you can cover your suet cakes from all sides and allow an open area only at the bottom. This will discourage any other animals from feeding on your suet and allow only birds who can hang upside down to feed from your feeding station.

Suet feeders are low maintenance feeders. You only need to refill roughly once a week and you don’t need to scrub your feeders. You can also leave your feeders out in your yard for the whole year. Having suet feeders in your backyard is a good way to attract more birds since suet feeders can attract bird species that don’t normally visit seed feeders like woodpeckers, creepers, kinglets, warblers and wrens. Suet feeders can also attract chickadees, blue birds, mockingbirds, titmice, nuthatches, jays, robins and starlings.

Trees or suet feeders covered with peanut butter suet can attract mockingbirds, flickers and woodpeckers, goldfinches, jays, juncos, chickadees, wrens, titmice and bluebirds.

A lot of suet feeders are available in the market today and some feeders that are available online can be found on The Backyard Bird Company and Wild Birds Forever .

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