Home made fat balls????

mrsclecoco_2

Hi can anyone give me any tips on making my own fat balls for the birds please?
My daughter would love this tanks

Rikki

I use yoghurt pots.

I put a knot in a piece of string suspend into the pot, wrapped round a pencil balanced over the top. The string sets in the lard and leave enough to tie to the tree.

The mixture I use is lard, bread crumbs, chopped fruits, cake crumbs anything I would normally throw out for the birds. Pour the mixture in warm not hot. Cut the pot off after its cooled and set.

Also you can get wire box type feeders which I put fried bread in.

mrsclecoco_2

oh that easy??? lol I thought it was going to be really difficult, my DD doesloads of green stuff at nursey and she keeps goin on about making fat bals
Thanks I'll give that a go

gazza975526570

Rikki wrote: »

I use yoghurt pots.

I put a knot in a piece of string suspend into the pot, wrapped round a pencil balanced over the top. The string sets in the lard and leave enough to tie to the tree.

The mixture I use is lard, bread crumbs, chopped fruits, cake crumbs anything I would normally throw out for the birds. Pour the mixture in warm not hot. Cut the pot off after its cooled and set.

Also you can get wire box type feeders which I put fried bread in.

What a great idea - i bet they go mad for them!!

annie123

you can also make your own fat breads.
I use the crusts from a wholemeal loaf dipped in the same sort of mixture mrsclecoco uses but I use suet instead of lard and place in a fatblock holder
like this one http://www.vermisell.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_FBWH001

The starlings find it easier to hold on to.

Rikki

annie123 wrote: »

you can also make your own fat breads.
I use the crusts from a wholemeal loaf dipped in the same sort of mixture mrsclecoco uses but I use suet instead of lard and place in a fatblock holder
like this one http://www.vermisell.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_FBWH001

The starlings find it easier to hold on to.

I couldn't remember what they were but thats what I put the fried bread in.:cool:

Seakay

I find dripping fat better than lard because it sets harder and melts at a higher temperature so there is less danger of the ball disintegrating on a sunny day.
We have a cat, plus others in the area, so I put food for ground feeding birds on a board with holes in for drainage on the trimmed falt top of a holly bush; this food always includes some fat ball mixture set in a plastic pot without string in it and turned out.
Turning out is easy if you warm the outside of the container (dunk in hot water) or you can tear the container off if you use a cardboard ice cream carton.
If you think that your warm mixture is looking too seedy, and might not hold together, or if you have melted too much fat, then stale bread liquidised/processed into crumbs will act as a good binder, or ground peanuts if you are feeling generous!

sillyvixen

i will pass on tips to my mum - who spends loads on fat balls for birds in her garden, she has loads and loves watching them. i dont encourage birds as to many local cats!!

SuzanneB_2

See if you have one of those little shops that sell everything or a local pet shop. From mine you can buy bags of nuts and bird seeds for very little money and when mixed with all the other stuff suggested you can make loads of seed cakes.

I also use plastic cups but also keep things like ceramic plat pots, old ceramic stuff from the house so you have a variety if shapes.

Also you might want to check out some bird sites as too where you should put them or how they should be placed ie upside down so the bird can hang from it or upright etc

the_big_fact_hunt

mrsclecoco wrote: »

Hi can anyone give me any tips on making my own fat balls for the birds please?
My daughter would love this tanks

so, size does matter after all!



sorry............ couldnt resist

pinkdrink

The BBC springwatch site has a very good recipe for fat cakes and also shows you how to make a feeder in a milk carton!
Does anyone know what the difference bewtween lard and suet is (sorry if i'm being thick!)