In this dry February it is important to remember birds. They need fresh water and a food source, not just any food source, but one that is high in fats. The usual source from which birds get their fat is from the insects in their diet. But with our dry winter, even insects may be hard to come by. Black oil sunflower seed is a good source of fat but a better source of fat is suet.
Suet is the fat that builds up around animal kidneys. Suet is taken from cows or sheep, not to be confused with lard, which is fat taken from pigs. In its raw state it is hard and brittle. Animal fat is a high energy food that is easily digested and metabolized by many birds.
Suet that is to be given as a food source for birds needs to have been rendered. Rendering is the melting and clarifying of fat.
Recipe for making suet cakes for birds:
1. Clean the fat to remove any meat and bone. Fat may be able to be obtained from butchers, as the fat is usually chopped off the meat and discarded.
2. Chop the fat into small pieces or process it in a meat grinder.
3. Heat the chopped fat on low heat until it is fully liquefied. Smaller pieces of fat melt faster than larger pieces; do not raise cooking temperature to speed up the melting.
4. Stir the fat constantly for even melting. 5. Strain the liquid fat through a fine-mesh sieve. This step is important to remove any remnant impurities.
6. Steps 3, 4, and 5 of the heating, melting, and straining the liquid will need repeated several times for pure product.
7. Mold into desired shape and place in the freezer for several hours. Molds may be ice cube-shaped, small paper or plastic cups, shallow trays. The suet is ready to be offered to birds when completely solid.
8. Place into store-bought suet feeders, homemade wire baskets, hang in bird feeders, or place on bird feeder tables.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
TEXAS DOVE
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