If you are a person who mixes up homemade suet, known by some as “Zick Dough” for the indefatigable Julie Zickefoose, who popularized her own recipe, you might want to know that a new, improved, “Zick Dough” recipe is up on her blog – a recipe that will not cause gout in bluebirds (hopefully). Seriously. Go check out her new recipe and make the change for the good of the birds!
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
You work fast, Corey! I don’t know yet whether this recipe is a lot safer than the old one, but I can say with confidence that it is more nutritious. It’s a work in progress. I’ll probably keep fiddling with the recipe, increasing the proportion of chick starter and cutting back on the lard, but for now I’m pretty happy with New Zick Dough and so are my birds. I’ll be the first to holler if I see a sign of gout in my birds come spring.
I have faith, Julie…