KateG Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Or similar. I've bought a 'thing' for birds that was meant to hold suet balls for wildbirds. Is there anyway I can utilise it for the chickens? What would I put in it? Home made recipes gratefully received....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonita5kitten Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hi there I make my own suet treats for my chucks which might work for your 'thing'.. Its a very rough recipe in terms of quantities but I tend to chuck in a couple handfuls of veggie suet into a saucepan and let it melt down until runny.. I then add a couple heaped tablespoons of peanut butter which my girls absolutely love! .. melt this down as well then turn of the heat. At this point I add a couple handfuls of wild birdseed (which I buy from my local pet shop or garden centre).. a handful of raisins.. and any other nutty.. seedlike foods I have in my cupboards at the time. I then mix it all up and spoon into the bird feeder and let it set as it cools.. then its ready for the chucks. If your birdfeeder is shaped for balls then perhaps you can let the mix set halfway or just enough so that you can shape it into balls before it cools completely?? Hope this helps to give you some ideas.. let me know if your girls like their treat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I make a similar mix for the wild birds and tip it into empty coconut halves. Maybe you could use them to fill for the chickens. I didn't know that chickens could have veggie suet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I wouldn't recommend giving suet to the hens. Too much saturated fat is bad for them. Redwing's famous Home Made Peckablock recipe is much better for them as it doesn't contain fat. Perhaps you could adapt the shape to fit into the 'thing'. My hens love this. You will need a stick of some sort, garden cane works well, cut a piece of cane and drill a hole near one end for hanging it up. Next collect the ingredients you want to add, mixed corn, pellets etc. Crack a fresh egg into a bowl, mix the egg with a few dessert spoons of flour & a drop of water. So that it forms a runny paste. Cut a long wide piece of kitchen tin foil. Then in the bowl that you have the mixed egg & flour, add the mixed corn etc, mix it all up so the mixed corn & pellets start to stick together. Give it a good mix so that everything is coated. Spoon the mix onto the tin foil to make a long sausage shape, you can add the stick through the middle at this stage. Then wrap the foil around the ingredients and press firmly so it sticks together to form a sausage like shape. Then put it in the oven at 120 degrees for an hour to let it dry out slowly. Check it's hard, if not leave a bit longer then let it cool and let the birds test it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poachedegg Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I have just ordered 2 pecka blocks that cost £21 with delivery, however they do love them..... but to save a few pennies I am definitely going to give this a try tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 My lot like these: http://www.equestrianworld.co.uk/product_new.asp?ID=101990 They are cheaper than pecka blocks, one lasts five hens about a week (at least here they do!) I simply thread string through them and hang them from the run walls, hanging them from branches/perches in the run works too and they last longer then as the hens cant get as good a grip on them when they are swinging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonita5kitten Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I wouldn't recommend giving suet to the hens. Too much fat is bad for them. I thought the same when I first heard about this recipe so did a bit of 'googling' and it seems that indeed suet in large quantities can be too much fat for chickens (same as humans), however in the winter (more so now with the weather as it is) they do need extra fat storage for insulation, therefore the suet treat recipe above should be absolutely fine. I've been giving this to my chucks since the weather got colder in November and they are all in good health and all are laying regularly. I put in a couple of small handfuls which equates to about 30g of suet.. just once a week.. this is about as much fat as they need to keep snug and warm in these winter months. If you are still unsure then if you google 'chicken treat recipe' or something like that then you'll find plenty of great recipes out there.. thats how found the suet one. All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 My girls weren't overly impressed with Redwing's recipe ( sorry Tasha ) I made some small ones in tuna tins & a bigger one for the WIR in an old square baking tray.....all the sultanas have gone and a few bits have been pecked off.........maybe they had more good stuff than the treats they think they richly deserve Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I made the one Egluntine suggested on Tuesday, I had the recipe before, and gave it to them today to keep them busy and there is not one crumb left Hopefully happy chickens and not too much pecking each other going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGLGirls Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 I tried Redwings cost effective recipe with pellets/mealworms/seed/currants - the girls absolutely loved it. So easy too. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
