I make the standard bird pastry that seems so popular now but have cooked some and made into crumbs.
Put biscuit sized pieces on a tray and bake for around 20-25 mins at 200c.
When cooked leave to cool and then whizz up in a blender for crumbs.
These are very popular with the ground feeders (blackbirds,thrushes,dunnock etc) as they can be scattered over the garden.
The crumbs are quite moist but you could have drier crumbs if you cooked a little longer or left to dry out in the oven.
It's not always easy to hug a hedgehog.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't.
It also smells good when cooking!!
Hi madpenguin, that's a brilliant idea, thanks for posting :) It looks really good lol
Thanks Lil Wren!
I made another big batch which I froze down,the beauty of which is you don't need to wait for it to defrost before putting it out as it does so vey quickly.
The birds in my garden are eating it 5 mins after putting out!
Thats a good idea MP! I bet they do smell good as they look good enough to eat. Bet the birds love it.
Ive just made some suet. I melted the block of lard, added sunflower hearts, blacksunflower seeds, pellets, grated cheese, mealworms and peanuts. It smelt awful and vile I had to open a window, but least the birds will like it. Im going to leave it fridge over night so it sets!!
Cheers, Jason
As I am putting bird seed into my pastry crumbs the seeds will be cooked so hopefully will not sprout when scattered on the ground.
Anyone know if that is the case?
Thought I might bring this thread back to the top as I have just made a batch of bird crumbs.
I sometimes make a big batch of pastry and use some for bird crumbs so everyone gets what they want.
They freeze well and can be scattered straight from the freezer.
I hope you know MP you are denying me my "prairie dogs", I used to make some that looked exactly like yours - but added fruit - and they were yummy, now it seems I'll have to put them out for the birds and we will all go hungry sob sob.
Lot to learn
These pastry ideas all sound very tasty. Unfortunately there's no point in me putting out pastry unless it is very small amounts first thing in the morning. Even then it has to be fairly high up in the tree. This is due to the mice. They will take most things that are on the ground and will even climb the trees to find pastry if it's up there. Once there are more birds in the garden, I'll start putting it out again. I could put a large block in the scraps feeder I suppose.
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)