I am hyped. The goldfinches found their way to Drempels Nutty Sticks™. They felt like the rarest finches in the garden and now they’re on my balcony.
I reckon the birds and settings i am posting are boring for real birdies, i feel like as long as the traffic here is kinda low it’s fine to post still.
I am using fat that is being sold from the fridge, it is relatively hard, i think it is harder than the coco oil that melts completely at like 25°C. Not totally sure though.
I low heat melt it in a pot and then add seeds, takes a while to get hard, and at room temperatur it stays a bit soft, i don’t think it will work in summer anymore.
Tallow melts at about 30C, might work a little better for the not-quite-scorching days of summer, if you don’t mind it not being vegetarian.
Here’s a recipe using lard or Crisco (hydrogenated vegetable shortening): https://www.houseofhawthornes.com/no-melt-suet-cakes-for-birds/
Interesting! I am currently experimenting with gel food for fish, using agar algae to stiffen the blend of fish and shellfish. I don’t think it’ll work for bird feed, but I am sure that there are multiple ways to do this. For it to work in summer I guess the best way is to make some doe and bake them in the oven maybe
I have read about people using gelatine to make ‘seed cakes’, they looked pretty good, so i think agar could work too? I just had the coco fat at home anyway so i just used it.