My friend Heather from Massachusetts recently whipped up a batch of homemade flock blocks for her chickens. Today she is sharing her recipe. Thanks Heather!!
This is so easy you won’t even believe it!
Baby it is ccccold outside! Last night we got our first storm here in New England. So yesterday I cleaned the coop, filled up their food, cleaned their water out, and made a batch of homemade flock blocks!
The great thing about flock blocks is they are made of good stuff for the birds, easier than making cookies, they make your house smell great, and I get a sense of job-well-done because I made it myself.
The only bags of seed mixes my local feed store had were big enough to last me three winters worth of flock blocks, but that’s ok because each bag was $5-7 which is almost half the price of one flock block from the store. The other ingredients you probably have laying around.
Ingredients:
4 cups scratch grains {usually cracked corn, oats, barley, etc – or whatever mix they have at your feed store}
2 cups layer feed
2 cups oats {regular oatmeal oats}
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup whole wheat flour {whatever you have in your cupboard is fine}
1/2 cup wheat germ {I had wheat bran so I used that instead}
1/2 cup crushed egg shells or oyster grit
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne pepper {good for their immune system}
6 eggs {weird I know, but think of it like a gelling unit}
1 cup molasses
1 cup solid-at-room-temperature oil {shortening or coconut}
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another bowl. The next step is kinda messy so lay out whatever pans you will be using. The pan size doesn’t really matter but it will affect your cook time so take that into account. I chose a small size so I can give them treats more often and… I have a whopping flock of four! Ha!
Now take off your rings and mix together with your hands – trust me, this is the only easy way to do this. When you’re done mixing you should be able to squeeze the mixture and it stays in a form.
Next, load up your pans. And press the mixture down tight and flatten so it’s smooth on top to make your type-A self happy. If you want to hang your flock blocks {you can also just lay it on a plate} poke a hole in it with a chopstick so you can thread it with twine later.
Bake at 325 degrees for 30 mins. It will turn a dark brown and the hole will look like it’s disappeared – it hasn’t, just poke it again. This part is really important – let it cool for HOURS. If you try to remove them from the pans while it’s hot, the flock blocks will fall apart and you may cry a little {ask me how I know}.
Run a knife around the edges because the molasses makes a little crust. Once it’s cooled – I let mine cool overnight {overnight is probably not necessary but I was traumatized from the previous attempt}, thread some garden twin through the hole and you’re done.
Roadrunner was a big fan of the flock block – Agnus and Mr. {really a misses} Bubblesworth where too busy checking out the camera {Goldfinger is camera shy}.
Tip: don’t leave your flock block in the rain – it will dissolve.
If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:
Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
Cool Arts & Crafts - Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.
If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.
Go HERE for the official rules.
This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.
Comments
Hi, Happy Warm New Year!!! I hope it's much warmer for you ... by Brenda
Related Stories
Backyard Chickens – Thinning the Flock
Cool Chicken Coop Designs and Chicken Stories of 2013
Little Boy with Autism Fights for His Right to Keep Chickens