can chickens eat bird suet

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Suet Cake Recipes for Chickens

We are very excited to be partnering with Fresh Eggs Daily® to bring you suet cake recipes for chickens!

It’s true that chickens, like other birds, adore suet! Your hens will appreciate it if you make a suet cake out of leftover cooking fat or give them a little extra treat made of coconut oil and herbs. You can make suet cakes with ingredients that are commonly found in kitchens. To make suet cake, just use a base like meat fat or coconut oil and add basic ingredients like nuts, raisins, cracked corn, cinnamon, herbs, and more! After the suet hardens, remove it from the You Do It Suet® mold and put it in a cage feeder for your chickens to eat.

1/2 cup bird seed, 1 TSP garlic powder, 1 cup coconut oil, and a dash of cinnamon

Put the coconut oil into the You Do It Suet® mold and, if necessary, reheat it in the microwave. Place the remaining ingredients in the You Do It Suet® mold and stir in the coconut oil. Freeze to set. Your chickens will love this delicious treat if you remove the suet cake from the You Do It Suet® mold and place it in a suet cage feeder.

NOTICE: If you are feeding your hens during the winter, then only use coconut oil as the foundation for your suet cake. If coconut oil is left outside in warm weather, it will quickly melt. There’s nothing good for your hens’ feathers or health about a melting suet cake.

One pound of 80/20 ground beef or your preferred meat (use the extra grease ONLY) Cracked corn, sunflower seeds, cayenne pepper, unsalted peanut butter, and unsalted peanuts

In the You Do It Suet® mold, combine all of the ingredients listed above. Freeze to set. Your chickens will love this delicious treat if you remove the suet cake from the You Do It Suet® mold and place it in a suet cage feeder.

NOTICE: Only feed chickens suet cakes during the colder months. You can make a seed cake (recipe available here) as a treat for the warmer months.

1 pound of ground 80/20 beef or your preferred meat (use the extra grease ONLY) cornmeal oats raisins and dried cranberries

In the You Do It Suet® mold, combine all of the ingredients listed above. Freeze to set. Your chickens will love this delicious treat if you remove the suet cake from the You Do It Suet® mold and place it in a suet cage feeder.

NOTICE: Only feed chickens suet cakes during the colder months. You can make a seed cake (recipe available here) as a treat for the warmer months.

1. Five cups coconut oil Dried or fresh herbs (parsley, dill, mint, basil, oregano, and parsley) Rose petals or other edible flower petals (violets, marigolds, and dandelions)

After adding the coconut oil to the You Do It Suet® mold, microwave it to soften it. Place the remaining ingredients in the You Do It Suet® mold and stir in the coconut oil. Freeze to set. Your hens will love this delicious treat if you remove the suet cake from the You Do It Suet® mold and put it in a suet cage feeder.

NOTICE: If you are feeding your hens during the winter, then only use coconut oil as the foundation for your suet cake. If coconut oil is left outside in warm weather, it will quickly melt. There’s nothing good for your hens’ feathers or health about a melting suet cake.

If you ever visit my chicken coop, don’t expect to see any chandeliers…

I’ll admit, they do look kinda cool, but I tend to be somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to chicken keeping. I prefer to stick to the basics (that means no chicken sweaters either…). Heck, my flock doesn’t even have names, other than the rooster, which the Prairie Kids named “Chicken Nugget”.

Having said that, since they can’t go out foraging for beautiful bugs and greenery in the winter, I do like to give them a little extra nutrition. Everyone eventually becomes weary of our long, harsh Wyoming winters, even the animals. You can supplement the nutrition of your flock in a few different ways, such as:

Ways to Give Chickens Extra Nutrition:

  • Feeding Extra Squash or Pumpkins
  • Sprout grains
  • Feed Fodder
  • Feed Table Scrapes
  • Feed Scrambled Eggs

These are all simple methods to add to your diet, and they might even help you cut costs on chicken feed. However, I love to make homemade suet cakes for my flock as a way to provide them with extra nutrition during the winter.

These homemade suet cakes are designed to resemble the treats provided to raptors. This version, which makes use of tallow (see how to render tallow here), is a great way to give your flock a little extra fat and energy, particularly in the winter.

Homemade Suet Cakes Notes:

  • This recipe is extremely flexible. Don’t hesitate to play around with it!.
  • Some other ingredients that would work well in place of or as additions to this recipe are peanut butter or unsalted nuts. Additionally, you can add herbs and spices like oregano, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
  • If you don’t butcher your own meat, try to get suet or fat trimmings from your neighborhood butcher. Here is my tallow-rendering tutorial.
  • Check out my tallow soap recipe, tallow candle tutorial, and how to make the best french fries ever if you’re looking for more creative ways to use tallow.
  • Another choice is to store the drained fat from frying sausage and hamburgers. Till you have enough to make this recipe, keep it frozen. Bacon grease is okay in moderation, but because it contains nitrates and sodium, I wouldn’t recommend using a lot of it.

FAQ

Can chickens have suet blocks in the winter?

Winter Warmer Release the suet cake from the You Do It Suet®mold and place in a suet cage feeder where your chickens can enjoy this tasty treat. NOTICE: Only feed chickens suet cakes during the colder months. For a warm weather treat you can make a seed cake, recipe can be found here.

What animals eat bird suet?

Birds are not the only backyard visitors that will enjoy suet – raccoons, rats, bears, chipmunks and other wildlife may also try the treat.

Can chickens eat bird seed?

In terms of feeding them only that food long term, I am not sure that it would be complete. They need greens as well, and will benefit from an addition of pellets , and fridge and pantry scraps . Wild bird seeds are fine to feed to chickens in moderation as occasional treats.

Can you feed bacon fat to chickens?

And no, chickens aren’t vegetarians. They’re omnivores. Perfectly fine to feed them some of this pork fat.