I have Fed birds for years. I feed the birds all year long. The cost of suit block has tripled this year.
I have started making my own suit blocks. The are basically different types of bird seed and lard. I use beef suit now and then.
My question is will lard hold up to the summer heat? I live in Michigan 80 degrees is a real hot day for us. Thank you in advance.

In my experience, suet gets moldy pretty quick in the spring, summer, and early fall, assuming the squirrels left any! Also, it requires a hardware cloth type cage to last any time at all.

Is there really a need to feed much in the summer, is total dependency a good idea when summer is a bountiful time for them? Maybe it’s just me but I feed in the winter months pretty heavy but cut way back in the summer to the basics.

It depends on how quick your birds eat it. I use homemade lard based suet and live in Mississippi but a suet block never lasts more than 3 days here.

I think lard will be melting away at our summer temps, GT. I also have feed birds for many years, but I only buy sunflower seeds nowadays. I also go through many hundreds of pounds of shelled corn. This time of year squirrels eat it non-stop, as well as jays and doves. They share it with turkeys and sandhill cranes in the warmer months. The squirrels usually eat the bottom 1/3 off the kernel and drop it, but cardinals and other birds gobble the gnawed kernels right up. As for fat/lard/suet.........I put out nothing but bear fat. Before I retired and shut down the taxidermy shop I had access to more than I could use. Now I get one or two 5 gallon pails of bear blubber from another local taxidermy shop and have no trouble with leftovers. EVERYTHING will eat the fat too......all the birds, squirrels, deer, 'coons, 'possums, neighborhood cats, you name it. It goes fast, especially when it is downright cold.

When I use lard it will go rancid pretty quick if its above freezing. Store bought suet has the seeds in it and I will have starlings cowbirds grackles along with other birds eating it up pretty quick. Started making my own out of beef suet from the butcher. I don't add anything to it. When it's melted down and screened I will put it in cup cake paper inside a cup cake tin. When it sets up I will put it in the freezer. Nice size to work with and I will put three cakes in a onion sack and hang it up. So far it's worked out real good. during the summer I will just put one cake in the sack. And have had no problems with it going bad.

Russ

We feed them year round and when the hummingbirds come back the suet cages get replaced by sugar water and oriole feeders. It's a good change up.

I make mine out of coon fat works great all winter , I have never try it in summer

I rendered it made suet blocks and it never melted...store it in the freezer

Put it in your suet feeder it will be fine

Suet Blocks or just suet after the snow is gone here attracts Bears

I would not feed suet blocks in the summer.
Young birds need to learn how to find food the way God intended.

I have what appears to be an endless supply of peanuts. I’ll just throw a handful of splits and hearts out in the yard every morning before work and the wife can watch them all day.