How to Make Bird Food

Posted on April 22nd, 2009 by Marck

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Birds require a very special diet for them to grow strong and healthy. Pre-mixed and prepared bird food can be bought from pet stores and pet supply shops, but you can also feed your pet healthful and nutritious stuff you made yourself. Here are some ideas on homemade pet food you can feed to your birds.

Read Up On Bird Food

If you keep birds, it’s very important to know more about their diet. Not all birds are meant to eat birdseed or commercial bird food available on the market. It’s often much better for you to know what the particular species of your birds eat if they’re wild; that way they can get used to the food faster than if you just fed them pet food. You can consult a veterinarian or a professional birdkeeper on what you can feed a particular species.

Birdseed

Birdseed is readily available from pet stores, although many brands may contain additives that may seriously hurt or kill the bird. It’s best to stick with natural seeds like sunflower seeds, millet, thistle seeds, rapeseed, and safflower seed.

Fat

Birds who feed on insects and small animals may not be able to eat or digest seed. For carnivorous or omnivorous birds, suet can be used to meet their demand for fat and protein. You can buy blocks of bird suet from pet stores, or buy hard fat like that from beef or mutton.

Bird Food Mixtures

The neat thing about bird food is that it’s easy to make; you simply need to mix together some healthy all-natural ingredients birds enjoy:

Mix together some freshly-milled cornmeal with carrots, turnips, celery, and other green leafy vegetables. Add some fresh raw fruit like cherries and oranges, and mix them all together with three eggs. Crumble the shell along with the mixture, and bake the “cake” for 15-20 minutes. Once cooked, crumble the “cake” into the bird feeder.
Experiment with various fresh vegetable and fruit mixtures that your birds will love, and stick to what they like the most. Avoid foods that are toxic to birds like peanuts, almonds, beans, rhubarb, and avocados.
Mix various seeds and grains together in a bird feeder, like oats, sunflower seeds, rice, and millet.
For birds that feed on pollen and nectar, mix together honey, brown sugar, and water and feed the mixture to the birds.

While you can make your own bird food from scratch, it doesn’t mean that you should stop feeding your pet birds specially-formulated birdseed that will help them grow stronger and healthier. With these tips, though, your pet birds will love you more because of the tender loving time and care you set aside to make them food they will enjoy.