Brock’s Birdie Bread
Makes 48-60 mini muffins
I’ve put this recipe together through trial-and-error and using a multitude of different recipes I’ve found online. Some of my favorite ways to use this bread are to deliver calming/medicinal herbs (in conjunction with veterinary treatment, ALWAYS), and convert zealous seed eaters to pellets and fresh food!
I’ve done my best to create something that reflects the qualities I need and want in my birdie bread:
Flexibility of purpose
Easily found/accessed ingredients
Affordable ingredients
Great nutrition and enrichment
There are tons of substitutions you can make. Not just ingredients, but tools, techniques, and applications. I’m going to give you the base recipe, then there’ll be notes on the end for ways you can change it up to suit other purposes.
Ingredients:
1.5 cups stone ground cornmeal
1.5 cups whole grain flour (almond, whole wheat, oat, barley, garbanzo… any bird-safe grain)
¾ cup rolled or old-fashioned oats (just not instant or minute oats)
¾ cup multigrain hot cereal (there is a brand called Woodstock in most US stores; you can sub more oatmeal, too)
½ cup raw seeds (in or out of shell, no salt or flavors; choose one or several: sunflower, pumpkin, safflower, etc.)
6 tbsp millet (not spray millet; you can buy human grade separated from the stem from grocery stores or online)
2-4 tbsp of chamomile tea leaves (or the contents of 2-4 tea bags-make sure it is pure chamomile with nothing added)
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1.5 cups finely chopped vegetables (you can do one or multiple; take your pick! Examples: broccoli, peppers, spinach, kale, carrot, squash, etc.; make sure the pieces are nice and small!)
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3 eggs
14.5 oz can beets
½ cup apple juice
In a LARGE bowl, mix all the ingredients from cornmeal to chamomile together so it’s thoroughly blended.
Stir vegetables into the dry mix until thoroughly coated in the flour mix and there are no vegetable clumps.
Puree the eggs, beets, and juice together in a mixer or food processor.
Pour puree evenly over dry mix and stir until well blended. You may have to use your hands or a hamburger chopper to get it fully mixed. The dough should be crumbly, but you should be able to press it together.
Fill mini muffin pans even with the top of the cups (the bread will not rise or expand; what you see is what you get). Use the end of a mixing spoon or similar shape to poke holes in the middle if desired; this will allow you to use the muffins to tie to forage toys or put on skewers and such.
Bake on the center rack at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are crispy and brown.
Substitutions, Additions, Behavioral Notes
If you can’t find other whole grain flour, you can just do all corn meal, though whole wheat is usually available anywhere anymore.
The chamomile is to calm birds, and is especially good for pluckers, but you can leave it out. You can increase the amount quite a bit, too. You can swap it or add lavender for hormones as well, just don’t give that to breeding birds.
Beets can be replaced with canned pumpkin or canned yams (drain the syrup). Some people are concerned with the small amount of added sugar in the yams or beets. It is very negligible (2-4 g in the whole can divided among many, many muffins), but that is up to you to decide!
You can replace the apple juice with any bird safe liquid! Bird-friendly herbal teas, fruit juices, plain almond milk, water, etc!
You can use egg whites instead of whole eggs if you’re worried about fat content as well, but again it’s not much spread across a lot of food and just there to hold the bread together.
For converting birds to pellets: Mash pellets into the top of your muffins (which means leaving a bit of space at the top of each cup). You can also mix in, though some will dissolve.
If you’ve got a seed addict or a bird refusing veggies, you can take their favorite seed mix and put it in as the seed component. Just be sure there aren’t any huge chunks like whole almonds in it.
They may just tear up most or all of it at first. This is fine! It’s still enrichment!
Use those holes! Put it on skewers!
Cooking Tips and Notes
Remember: Nonstick cookware can kill birds; find alternatives! Aluminized steel is expensive, but worth it!
This makes a LOT. If you have smaller birds or only one or two, these freeze beautifully. I also recommend keeping the ones you’re actively using refrigerated.
That said, if you need even more, you can actually double the recipe (the canned product usually comes in double sized)
I really recommend getting two muffin pans if you can afford them. You’ll still probably have to do two rounds of baking, but that’s a lot faster than three!
If you’re more into squares for various reasons, you can also bake this recipe in a larger tray. Lightly coat a cake pan in veggie oil with a paper towel and spread the dough about 1 inch deep. Be sure to cut the dough BEFORE you bake, or you will have one giant brick of cornbread. I guess that would be cool to put in an aviary full of birds, though!
Use a butter knife around the edge of each muffin to gently dislodge them from the pan. If you do it just right, they may even fly as well as the fids you’re making them for.
If you’re unsure if the muffins are done enough, don’t be afraid to add five minutes, so long as you don’t think you’re in danger of burning them! Thankfully, birds have different standards of haute cuisine, and unlike humans don’t really mind if their cornbread is rock hard and dry. Just don’t serve them anything blackened; carbon is not good for them (or you for that matter)!