How to Make Homemade Bird Feed
Bird watching is a popular hobby that spans all parts of the world and all age groups. It is not uncommon to find a young child making a bird-watching notebook, sitting next to her grandmother, who is also fascinated with the winged creatures. It is fun to set up a bird feeder in your backyard and watch the feathered friends come to feast. Although you can readily buy bird feed at department and hardware stores, it is interesting and economical to make your own.
A wonderful advantage to making your own homemade bird feed is that you can tailor the ingredients to the types of birds you would like to attract. For example, it is widely known that while bluebirds and wrens are attracted to bread products, tanagers and finches prefer fruit. Here is one recipe for "Apples Mixture" bird feed---there are many more recipes for homemade bird feed available on the Internet.
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Things You'll Need
- One apple
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1/2 cup soybeans
- Four eggs
- 2 cups rice
- 10-inch by 13-inch baking pan
Instructions
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1
Chop up the apple to a very fine consistency. Make sure there are not huge chunks of apple and huge pieces of skin in the mixture. You can use two apples if they are very small.
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2
Mix 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal into the apple mixture. Stir well. Add 1 cup of very finely shredded carrots, and mix again.
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3
Mix in 1 cup of wheat germ or buckwheat. Add 1/2 cup soy milk and 1/2 cup of very finely ground soybeans. Once again, mix well. Add four blended eggs (including the shells) and 2 cups of cooked brown or white rice. If you don't have rice, feel free to substitute beans. Mix well.
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4
Grease a 10-inch by 13-inch cake pan and bake at 350 F for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool when you remove it from oven.
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5
Put the mixture in the bird feeder.
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Tips & Warnings
Making homemade bird feed is a great learning project to do with your children. It encourages measuring and math skills as well as science skills when they are learning about different species of birds.
Do not use whole peanuts, which could cause birds to choke.
