So, apparently I like making birdy bread and my birds sort of like eating it. I make it differently every single time and since I'm bored, I thought I'd start listing my recipe versions. Starting with today.

In the oven now is a huuuuge cake made with mostly left over stuff and some stuff I picked up while grocery shopping.

2 eggs, whipped a big with some water to break down the egg shell since it seems to want to stay in big chunks. It's weird. I want to figure out an easier way of including the egg shell without spending all this time squishing the egg shell bits with a spoon or whip.

Poured the rest of my Harrison's pellets (about a cup?) in and mixed in more water and let it set until it made a paste while I chopped up veggies.

This batch's veggies were: beet bits and greens left over from beets I made tonight, chopped up teensy weensy. Two carrots, finey shredded. A little bag of organic baby "mush" of sweet potato, barley and... something else, I can't remember. It smelled horrible and I can't imagine a baby accepting it. Anywho, also added finely chopped cilantro and left over blueberries, also finely chopped. Oh, and a red bell pepper, chopped up with the seeds. Also a handful of defrosted corn kernels and peas, left whole.

Mixed that all up with the egg/water/pellet mix along with some peanut butter and a bit of honey. Added a large portion of the Kaytee's "Molting and Conditioning" supplement. Added left over TJ's cornbread mix with Krustee's cornbread mix and a bit more water to make a thick batter. Folded in some cockatiel seed mix and budgie seed mix. I usually just use budgie seed mix, but this time I thought I'd try some cockatiel mix so there would be sunflower seeds and other bigger seeds that might appeal more to Coyote.

It was a LOT more mix than I usually end up with, so I used a 9x13 pan and set the temp to 325 since it was still pretty thick. I'm hoping it will bake through without burning, which makes me regret adding honey to the mix. Ah well. We'll see how it turns out.

The peanut butter, honey and cockatiel seed were the main new things I'm trying. The other bits are either things I've tried before or variations on similar ingredients used before.

I had left overs of most of the things I was chopping up, so I mixed them all up with a chopped up boiled egg (with shell) to use as fresh chop mix over the next few days.

My son usually eats a piece of birdy bread every time I make it and gives me a critique. He usually likes it. I'll let you know what he says.

When it cools down, I cut it up in serving size cubes and then save a few day's worth in a ziplock for the fridge and put the rest in ziplocks in the freezer. I used to just keep it all in the freezer and nuke it each morning but that got to be too much work. Now I just pull it from the fridge and serve it cold, assuming it will warm up fast enough to not be bad for them. I usually mix it with their regular seed mix which is 50/50 pellets and seeds so it ends up a crumbly mix instead of just a chunk-o-bread.

And so begins my beyond boring thread of my birdy bread adventures. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess.

At 45 minutes, it's still gooey in the middle but it doesn't look like it's burning at the edges, so yay for dropping the temp to 325! I'm giving it more time.

It's healthier than my time killer. I think of mutations and morphs of birds and snakes and think "if I got this, what would I name it?".

I have names for budgies, p'lets, lovebirds, cockatiels, cockatoos, and conures (sun, dusky, GCC and BCC).

And a multitude for the ball pythons.

*Sigh* Not the best idea, seeing as I get strong bird and reptile cravings.

Let's hear how the bread went when you're done with it.

Oh, there MUST be a word for what you do because I have known so many people who do that. They like coming up with names, for people or pets who may or may not (or may not ever) exist. I'm gonna call y'all Namers. I like it. I'm a terrible namer as is obvious by the names of my pets (who I blame mostly on my young son and some on a father who eggs him on), I mean come on, Waffles? Ninja? I named Cloud (boring, but it's pretty and she looks like a cloud) Coyote? Kevin the female turtle in our pond? The Monster (I named him, he's our gigantic koi). See, I'm bad at naming and to the rest of my family, naming is for funsies. Next time I get a pet, I may come to you for naming help.

As for the birdy bread, well according to my weirdo son who likes birdy bread (seed shells and pellets and all), this batch came out well. And I quote: "Unexpected. Surprisingly tangy and a bit chewy. I like it!" Once it had cooled enough, I crumbled some up for Coyote and he took to it like it was millet! He was suspicious of the last batch of birdy bread and ate more Nutriberries (he always has some on hand in another bowl) instead, but I think he'll be all about this birdy bread. Which is good, because he's growing tons of feathers. His face is getting even more yellow than before! His wing feathers that were clipped are all growing back in and look so pretty... he's a light pied and most of is clear feathers are his flights, so it's nice to see them back. I think I'm gonna have to trim a couple back off though soon for safety, he's getting faster at flying every day.

I like naming things.

Hey, I don't blame your son. I've had homemade birdy bread before. Their pellets really aren't that bad. He may become a food connoisseur.

This current batch is a hit. I think I used more of the cornbread mix than I usually do and the peanut butter might help as well. Also, I think Coyote likes picking the bigger seeds and sunflower seeds out but in the process of hulling the seeds, he's ingesting parts of the bread as well. I can't tell if they're eating the veggies, since I chopped them all so small (with the idea that they wouldn't be able to pick them out and only eat seeds which is obviously what they are trying to do).

Sounds an interesting mix....

So you collect names for birds...
what can you come up with for a baby budgie Please? He will be arriving in around a months time...

Stephanie... you're up! You know you've got some good names already picked out, let's hear 'em!

This morning they're all getting mush, the left over chopped up veggies and a chopped up boiled egg (with shell) mixed in with their regular pellet/seed mix and molting supplement. Well, the budgies got mostly just seeds mixed in with theirs since I knew they'd hate it but Coyote just got his regular pellet/seed mix mixed in.

As expected, the budgies hate it but they're gonna have to deal with it for a couple of hours and then they'll get access to some birdy bread with their seed/pellet mix. Coyote loves his mush though!

Oh Jan, how exciting! I didn't know you were getting a new budgie.

I name off of mutation, so I won't really have any good ones until I see him or her.

Thanks.... don't know yet, but Its either a very pale yellow/lemon colour, or pale yellow with a blue splatter on his back... trying to decide if its a male or female... Everyone has different opinions on this subject...Has to be male to go with Bryni! LOL no babies for me!