I was searching on the web to find some information on plaster of paris for my architectural model, and I came across these recipes for mineral blocks. Having birds myself, I was intrigued at first, then horrified to find that people have recipes for birds which use plaster of paris. This stuff is carcinogenic! There are warnings all over the box about inhaling and ingesting it. For the bird's sake, they can't read box warnings or refuse to use it.