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Tip Store: Pets: Birds

​MOO Suet Log for the Birds

This bird suet (not to be confused with the suet we use in cooking and baking) is easy to make, costs around $4, and the birds love it. There is a concern that our native birds are suffering from bird malnutrition, so help them by putting out feed, especially in winter.

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups cornmeal
1-1/2 cups lard (if you don't save your own, it's in the dairy cabinet at the supermarket
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar

Method:
Melt the peanut butter and lard together in a pan over low heat, then mix in the remaining ingredients while still on low heat. Press the mixture into a square or rectangular cake tin, so that the mix is about 25mm thick. Freeze for an hour, and then cut into squares that will fit your feeder. 

Keep the feeder clean, and if the suet blocks get wet, change them. 

Notes: Store extra suet squares in the freezer separated by freezer film (I just cut up cereal bag liners) until ready to use.

Free Bird Treat

Next time you're walking along the beach keep your eyes peeled for things that have washed up .Last summer my husband and i were walking along the beach we stumbled across heaps of cuttlefish washed up. We collected what we could. I washed then boiled them to kill any parasites. Once dried i put them in a container ,Now my bird has enough cuttlefish to last her a very long time. Cost 100% free. By the way she loves them! 
Contributed by Karen Mozsny

Easy Clean, Reusable Bird Cage Liner Sheets

We have a pet budgie and I did not want to use newspaper as a cage liner as I read that the newsprint can be toxic to pet birds. I was also horrified at the cost of shop bought grit and sand sheets for lining the bottom of the bird cage (about a $1 a sheet). I wondered what I could use that would be 1. safe for the bird 2. environmentally friendly and 3. easy on my purse. I bought a pack of 3 flexible coloured plastic chopping mats ($3 for a pack of 3 at The Reject Shop). Our bird's cage is large so I use 2 of these mats (slightly overlapped) on the base of the cage. They are food grade (so no toxins) and can be washed and re-used over and over again saving me $100's each year and without any harm to our bird. 
Contributed by Nadine

​Make a Simple Bird Feeder

If your garden is full of birds (lucky you), keep them out of your garden by providing them with easy food. You can recycle an empty soft drink bottle into a bird feeder in minutes. Hang it in a tree and watch the birds abandon your precious seedlings!

​You will need:
1 empty soft drink bottle (size doesn't matter)
4 wooden spoons (again, size doesn't matter) 60cm wire
Bird seed (I use wild bird seed, from the supermarket)

Step 1. Poke three holes in the bottle, staggered around the width and down the length.
Step 2. Insert the handle of a wooden spoon into the first hole. Push it right in until it touches the other side of the bottle. Insert the other 3 spoons in the same manner.
Step 3. Fold the wire in half to form a loop. Twist the ends together for 2cm.
Step 4. Wrap the loop around the neck of the bottle and twist it tight, to form a hanger.
Step 5. Hang the bottle from a tree branch by the loop.
Step 6. Put some bird seed in the bowl of each spoon. Step 7. Go inside, get out your binoculars and watch the birds have fun.
​From the Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing Blog, Monday 8th October 2012

​Make a Cage Skirt and Keep the Seed In the Cage

I love to hear the beautiful whistle of canaries throughout the day but hate the mess they make by scattering their seed everywhere. After some thought about the problem – I decided to use an old terylene shower curtain I no longer needed after our bathroom was revamped. Before I put the birds in the cage - I fitted the curtain around it and secured it with pins. I then sewed up the sides and cut off the excess material. Then I sewed wide elastic around the top on the inside. It is very important to remove all loose threads which the birds could get tangled in or pull at. It works a treat – looks tidy and keeps the seed inside the cage - off the floor. It is also machine washable and dries quickly. If you don't have an old shower curtain – you will find one at the op. shops anytime. The covers sell for around $15 on eBay –mine cost me nothing except a little thought and time.
​Contributed by Janet, Morphett Vale, 18th January 2010

​Simple Seed Bell

Make a small amount of gelatine (not the flavoured kind) in a cup. When it has cooled then place as much seed as you can in with the gelatine (you could also put a piece of string through for hanging). One the gel has set roll the seed filled gel in some more seeds (so that you have more on the outside) and hang it/them up or roll them onto your lawn. Another way if you have some meat fat (cooked) you could roll that in seeds too - the birds will devour the meat fat too.
​Contributed by Christine, Karoola, 11th November 2009

​Quick Clean Bird Cages

Cleaning bird cages with vinegar will reduce the chance of bird wire poisoning, this method can also be used to clean bowls, perches etc.
​Contributed by Heather, Clagiraba, 26th September 2009

​Parrots Poop!

I love my parrots I have some live inside (one is known as "Sir-poop-a- lot) The perfect way to clean up the poop from wooden floor/tiles/cages and surrounds is by diluting one part white vinegar with 9 parts water in a spray bottle. Spray on the poop & in 5 minutes wipe clean away! Healthy, cheap and non-toxic!
​Contributed by Tania, Parkes, November 18th 2006

​Homemade Seed Bell

What you need: A terracotta pot, 1 cup of wild birdseed, 1 egg white (per cup of seed), 1 Oven bag (lining for mould), 1 piece of wire (approx 20cm) What you do: 1. Measure out about a cup of wild bird mix. 2. For each cup of seed you'll need one egg white to bind it all together. 3. To separate the egg white, pass the egg carefully from shell to shell. 4. Whisk the egg white, and then add birdseed. 5. Give a bit of a mix, mmm yummy! :p 6. Take the oven bag, and put it in the terracotta pot. 7. Place the birdseed in the pot – squash down nice and hard! 8. – Cut a 20cm long piece of wire (coat-hanger type is fine), cut a loop in the end. Slide the wire all the way down through the hole at the bottom of the pot, and then push the loop a couple of centimetres into the birdseed. 9. Next put it the oven for about an hour at 100 degrees C. The egg white will dry out, leaving you with a moulded bell. 10. Take it out of the pot and remove the oven bag. Put a hook in it, and hang it on a tree!
​Contributed by Katrina, Banora Point, May 2006

​Pinecone Feeder

Our son attends a Steiner school in Sydney and just last week brought home a bird feeder he had made. They collected old pinecones (plenty around their school) and then slathered them with peanut butter. They then rolled them in a dish of birdseed, which you can buy in bulk from stock feed suppliers. We've hung it in our Norfolk pine and the birds are enjoying it enormously.
​Contributed by Sandy, Woodcroft, May 2006

​Seed Balls

I found this recipe for Bird Seed Balls but you could make them into blocks. Make a smooth paste with 2 tbsp plain flour & 4 tlbs cold water. Then mix in 1-cup good quality birdseed. Place on a piece of greased foil and shape into a ball with a wire holder in the centre. (You could use an unbent paper clip). Wrap the foil around the ball, leaving it slightly open at the top. Bake in moderate oven for half an hour.
​Contributed by Sian, Mackay, May 2006