Birds that are migrating need body fat to be able to finish the journey, and
in the winter they need it to keep warm (stay alive!). Why try to impose a
human lifestyle choice on them that could have unintended consequences of
the fatal variety? They may eat it because less effort is expended to get
it, but that does not equate with it being good for them.
Jan
Richmond
_____
From: va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of JOHN AND JUNE CLARK
Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 11:31 AM
To: Deapesh Misra
Cc: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Va-bird] Vegetarian-Suet Feed !
The home made suet idea is OK but remember you may be a vegetarian, as are
we, but birds by nature are not. They need the fat they obtain from the
grease in the bugs they eat. I would suggest adding olive oil or canola oil
to the mix.
John
Roanoke, VA
_____
From: Deapesh Misra <deapesh@xxxxxxxxx>
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sat, December 5, 2009 10:51:31 AM
Subject: [Va-bird] Vegetarian-Suet Feed !
Hi,
My wife and I, have been thinking hard for a vegetarian replacement for
suet.
My wife came with an idea which is working great. Here is the recipe:
* knead wheat flour and water so as to obtain a mass of dough
* mix in the bird seeds into the dough (we are currently using 'Kaytee
Ultimate Nut and Fruit Blend'.
And that is it, we put the dough out in a suet cage!
We have had the following birds eat from it so far:
* Carolina Wrens
* White Breasted Nuthatches
* Carolina Chickadees
* Downy Woodpeckers
It seems to us that one advantage of this system is that, when the dough is
still soft, smaller birds feed from it. And when it dries out and gets hard,
woodpeckers and wrens only continue to feed from it.
-Deapesh
Fairfax, VA
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