Christmas baking.....for my chickens

While most kitchens are alive with fragrant aroma of Christmas cookies, pies, breads and other yummy baked goods, I decided to fix my chickens a treat, Knockoff Flock Block. Say that real fast and it sounds like something naughty. Flock Block is a commercial brand of chickie goodies, held together with molasses and other binding ingredients. I could go buy one at Bomgaars but it's more fun to save some money.

Mix some cracked corn, the by-product of the corn stove screenings, their layer feed, oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, wheat flour, raisins, unsalted chopped peanuts, some dog kibble and meal worms, if you happen to have any in the house. I did not. It's the perfect time to get rid of old chips, crackers or buggy stuff out of your cupboard. To bind it together takes eggs, since the shell is good for the chickens, just smash the entire egg and beat, molasses and coconut oil, I used bacon grease. Mix it all up, put it in a pan and bake for about 30 minutes. You can't believe how good it smells, I had a hard time not snacking on it.

 

I cut it into large squares and put one in a suet feeder and hung it in the covered scratch yard. The chickens were scared of it and ran into the coop.

 

Guess that's why they are called chickens.

 

They are also curious so it wasn't long before they had to come out and see just what it was. Gabby Gertie was the first one to try it.

 

Um....

 

 

....tasty!

 

 

It wasn't long before others were lined up for some flock block.

 

I also made them a suet block, using a lot of the same dry ingredients, I spread it out in a waxed paper lined Clementine box. Then poured bacon grease over the top and mixed it well. (I save my bacon grease all year long just to make suet cakes for the birds and chickens in the winter.

 

Stick it out in the garage to harden, cut into sections and they go into a dog bowl.

 

The chickens aren't bashful, they love suet.

 

 

It doesn't last long, yeesch! Bacon grease??

 

I guess they don't have to worry about cholesterol.

 

You can find the official recipes on Pinterest.