Fat Balls (7 Viewers)

[Susie]

I have found using suet much better than using lard. Lard tends to melt too easily and make a mucky sticky mess.

When making fat balls I melt the suet, mix in the seed, dried fruit, dried meal worms or what ever I am using, and then let it set and turns out to be far more solid and the birds seem to prefer it.

 

[Susie]

On a slightly different tack - I too remove the balls from their mesh as it is quite unnecessary when you use a specialised fat ball feeder. So I suggested to one of the manufacturers (by email and can't recall which one*, just one of the big names) that they market an alternative with no mesh wrapping. These would be cheaper to produce (and for us to buy) and save the hassle of removing the mesh. I still await a reply.:C

Adrian

* It was Chapelwood Wildlife Care

I've been warned that the mesh bags can be dangerous for birds as they can get their feet trapped in them. I don't know how true this is but when using bought fatballs I always removed mine from the bags just in case.

 

[barnstormer]

I think the "remove mesh quote is just a precaution as there are very few documented cases of birds getting trapped in it" just another urban myth me thinks.If anyone has heard about one it's usually "well a friend of a friend told me". If it ws a common occurance they wouldn't sell em like that.........

 

[barnstormer]

||Have just made some suet balls last night and the tits and the starlings love em.It's the first time we've done it but looks like it could be a weekly thing.
2 packs of atora suet melted in a pan and put in a mixing bowl,
1x 500ml jar of crunchy peanut butter mixed into suet,
3x ramikin size cups of peanut chips mixed into suet/peanut butter,
3x ramikin size cups sunflower seeds mixed into the mix.

beware this sets really fast so you have to be quick if putting into moulds.
we used discarded bird feed fat block packets and some cheap small plastic cups from asda as moulds.

out of this mix we got 4 fat balls,2 cups and 2 fat blocks.it only took about 15 mins in total but a bit messy,i think next time i'll do a lot at the same time and freeze them.

The little feathery sods better appreciate it........................

 

[snowyowl]

I think the "remove mesh quote is just a precaution as there are very few documented cases of birds getting trapped in it" just another urban myth me thinks.If anyone has heard about one it's usually "well a friend of a friend told me". If it ws a common occurance they wouldn't sell em like that.........

I've have had birds caught in Niger socks so if that can happen then I'm sure it can happen with other mesh feeders.

 

[snowyowl]

i buy the suet blocks or plugs. In Summer i buy the all season ones but in Fall & Winter I just use the ordinary ones. The suet gets eaten all year but is much more popular as the weather gets colder. One thing to consider may be location. Can the birds get on the feeder easily? Some of the bigger birds can have difficulty maneuvering on to the suet feeder.

 

[geordie graham]

The last lot I made I also added some porridge oats which helps bind it all together.

Graham

 

[Fozzybear]

Wilkinsons still have their 4 packs of seedy fat balls at 2 packs for £1. Not 'quite' as popular with my birds as the peanut ones that Wilkinsons sell, but they go down very well.

 

[barnstormer]

The suet balls i made a couple of weeks ago are goin down a lot better than the shop bought stuff,think i'll stick to that from now on.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Clayts (And anyone else thats interested)

Now its getting colder are you getting more luck with the fatballs?

 

[jackied]

I have 2 fatball feeders, the type that hold 4 small balls, and I usually have to refill every 2 days. All the Tits love them plus Robins, Jackdaws, magpies, crows, Song thrush, blackbird, Goldcrest, nuthatch and last but not least a Blackcap. There are always birds on the.
Jackie

 

[falconer2406]

I buy guardman fat balls in tubs of 50 from local garden centre, i always remove the green mesh. I feed these out of my front garden which has nothing else other than a fruit tray for the blacbirds in it. Regulars are all the tits including long tails, Blackbirds, wood pigeons, greater spotted woodpecker, chaffinch, starling, 1 blackcap this year (the only one i have seen in the garden this winter) robins and greenfinches by the dozens. Last winter early one morning my missus said to have a look out of the landing window and there was a muntjac in the garden giving the fatt balls a right seeing to, looked like he was trying to get his tongue in between the bars, mangaed to get a photo of him just as he was leaving. Bizzare or what!
Keith

 

[clydeboy]

I buy my fatballs from Instore/poundstretcher for 8 for £1.80.
I don't have a particularly big garden, only 4 hanging feeders, a ground tray and a table, but I (the birds) go through 4 fat balls per day, with the tits giving them a right hammering along with chaffinches and house sparrows.
Starlings usually give the balls a going over early in the morning with the rest at them for the rest of the day.
I have in my feeders.....mixed seed, black sunflower seeds, peanuts and minced suet with insects and berries, and although I go through a fair amount of these the fat balls are by far the most popular, they hang loose in their net bags from hooks on my feeding stand which possibly makes them easy to get to......sometimes the starlings are hilarious as they are not the most acrobatic.
Someone previously thought that the balls may be popular now as the colder weather has arrived, this may be the case and probably is, but I go through just as many in the summer.