Birdseed treats are a great gift for the birds. When it’s cold outside, the birds have to work harder to find enough food to make it through the winter.  Finding a bit of fat is like getting a gift, as it helps keep them warm!

Why not help your feathered friends out?  Make them some birdseed treats, and hang them from a tree branch.  The best part of this is that it is a fun project you can do with your kids!

 

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Winter Bird Seed Treats

 

1/2 cup lard, melted
1 cup bird seed or hen scratch
1/4 cup finely chopped Craisins, Raisins, or dried fruit
1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts (unsalted) (and/or pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, nuts of your choice)
1 straw, cut into 3” pieces
3 – 5 Cookie Cutters (these are perfect for the garden!)
1 12” (or longer, as needed) piece of ribbon or twine

Place cookie cutter on waxed paper. In a pot, melt the lard.  Pour the lard into a large bowl, and blend in the remaining ingredients.

Pour (or pack) mixture into the cookie cutter. Push the straw into the top (to make a hole for the twine). Put in the freezer until hardened. Remove the straw.

Thread a piece of twine through the hole and tie at the top. Hang from a tree branch where the birds are likely to gather.
Notes:

1) If your ‘dry’ goods get too much, melt a bit more lard. You want this mixture to be thick with ingredients  – the lard just holds it all together.

2) This is a good way to use plastic cookie cutters, or those that have rusted or broken, as they will not be reusable in the kitchen!

Julie Murphree is a blogger, newspaper columnist, and speaker on all things ‘Living a Simple Life on the Farm’. She is the author of \\\'The Farm Wife – Living a Simple Life on the Farm. She and her husband have 60 acres in NW Louisiana where they actively work on living as sustainable as possible.

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