Making fat balls for the birds help please :)

[condor]

Since we've been having this long cold spell have been feeding the wild birds in the hedgerow of the field opposite me.
My first attempt at a nut bell was using lard. Had the bird nuts chopped by the food processor, then used greaseproof paper in a bowl and melted lard to shape and bind them - before sticking in the fridge to harden. I'd sorted a hole so I could hang it on the tree with a wooden perch for the birds to sit and tuck in.
They eventually ate it - but lard wasn't their favorite fat, even though it was just the binding agent for lots of nuts...took them over a week to eat it.

I've now filled a half coconut shell with chopped nuts and this time used beef dripping as the binding fat - am waiting to check on its success. In the meantime, the birds are happily chomping their way through a bird seed feeder's worth of seeds each day...which is presumably, their favoured choice of food. It does need re-filling each day though - I've stuck a shop bought fat ball on top of the bird feeder to see if they take to that.

I've got a box of Atora shredded suet that I'd like to use to make the next set of fat balls ( it's just out of date, so thought it should be ok for the birds) ...any wild bird fat ball recipes out there?

Currently have bird seed, bird nuts, lard, beef dripping and beef suet to hand

[tenex]

Just chuck anything in. Seriously if they are hungry they will eat it.
Any fat is good because of it's high calorific value.
Try setting your balls in the freezer(fnarr,fnarr). No need for any liners etc., just a little warm water.

[ali_kat]

Goodness - you have the patience of a saint - I just buy them

[mids]

My dad goes to a bird club and he told me that they had a RSPB guy in who explained that the birds find it difficult to eat the fat balls when they are left out and get frozen so he chops them up and warms them up each morning in the microwave. Dedication !

You do have to be careful tho about the type of fat that you put out for them so "just chuck anything in" isn't really the best advice.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/266511-big-fat-no-for-...

Edited by mids on Sunday 19th December 09:42

[condor]

I'd noticed that the shop bought fat balls were quite hard, and with the loose netting weren't overly bird friendly. I've bought a fat ball feeder which I'll use for the Christmas period...and wanted to put some of the harder shop bought balls in with some softer home-made ones.
I'm glad that ( from the article) lard was OK, and the beef dripping I used was from a shop bought block (not the roasting tin).

I'll try making a nut ball with the shredded suet - presumably I just add small amount of water to the dried suet, add some seeds and nuts..then roll into a ball?

[rolex]

Don't just stick to peanuts, a great food for tits, finches and robins are sunflower hearts, basically the seeds without the husks. http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/pages/product/product....

You can buy them cheaper at local pet shops

[toplessjan]

Niger seed is particularly good this time of year because it has high fat content - dried fruit is popular with some of the species too. You could also think about wild berries and any plain biscuits you have knocking about, you could also flavour the fat with honey which is full of the good stuff if you're feeling generous.

Jan

[condor]

Thanks for the honey tip - got plenty of that.
I'm likely to be away for a few days over Christmas and wanted to make sure there was still plenty of food available - since I might not be here to do the top-ups.