DIY Suet Bird Feeder

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We live next to a large greenbelt, full of huge trees, so we get a lot of birds flocking to our yard. The feeder we had hanging in our tree recently broke so I grabbed some extra supplies from my garage and whipped up a super simple DIY suet bird feeder to replace it.

I love watching birds and having a bird feeder on the tree outside our kitchen window has been really fun. We’ve seen a huge variety of birds in our yard, including woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, sapsuckers, and even owls.

They flock to our suet feeder so when it broke, I wanted to quickly replace it. I’ve made a cedar bird feeder with homemade suet in the past but this time I wanted to make something that could hold a block of no melt suet {we’ve had such good luck attracting birds with this type and it doesn’t melt in the Texas heat}.

And I needed something quick. Once our suet feeder broke, one of the little sapsuckers seemed to get pretty bugged about it and has been pecking my chimney instead of the suet!

Supplies for a DIY Suet Bird Feeder

To make this feeder, I used chicken wire {I’ve had a roll sitting in the garage for random repurposed chicken wire projects}, a piece of wood 1×4 {something that is wide enough to create a ledge for birds to stand on}, and a piece of wood just wider than the suet.

It will be easiest to build if you actually have a block of no melt suet that you can use as a measuring guide.

How to Make a DIY Suet Bird Feeder

To make the feeder, cut the side pieces of wood to a length just a bit taller than the suet and place them far enough apart that the suet block can easily slide in between with a bit of space to spare.

I used a building square to keep everything straight.

Use wire snips to cut two equal pieces of chicken wire, large enough to fit across the span between the two side pieces.

Attach the wire to the wood with a staple gun.

You can use screws to attach the side pieces to the base but wood glue is just as easy for a project like this. If needed, clamp the pieces to ensure a tight connection.

I decided to leave this feeder looking rustic but if you want it a little less basic, you can paint or stain the wood or glue trim or molding over the staples.