Posted to the All creatures... forum
7 November 2009 8:03 AM
I meant to post this during the feed the birds week but I never quite got around to it.
I have no birds visiting my garden which eat corn and I found the corn in bought fat balls was discarded and then grew. This recipe is tailored to the birds I get in my garden, they eat every last bit so none of it is left for rats or to grow. It also works out at a fraction of the cost of bought bird food.
Fat balls (or blocks)
3 x 500g blocks of dripping (lard does not set hard enough)
1 x packet of value muesli
1 x packet of value sultanas
A few handfuls of sunflower hearts
A few handfuls of millet
A few handfuls of peanuts.
Melt the dripping and add to all the dried ingredients.
Spread it into a roasting tin.
Cut into squares when set.
The quantities can be reduced if your birds aren’t quite as greedy as ours.
Ingredients can be added/omitted to suit the birds in your garden.
I also put out a dried mix which the Blackbirds, Thrushes, Dunnock, Chaffinches and Robins love.
1 x packet value sultanas
A few handfuls of crushed peanuts.
Just mix it all together and feed.
(I hope I've posted this in the right place).
Life is too short to waste.
7 November 2009 11:46 AM
Many thanks for that WF. I do agree it can be infuriating when the birds discard the seeds / whatever that they don't like. I have myriad unwanteds growing in my tubs at the moment. I have to say that my birds all favour the berry suet pellets above anything else (and only the berry - they don't particularly like the other "flavours") but I will certainly give your recipes a try. Hopefully I can copy and paste them so I have a permanent record.
7 November 2009 12:24 PM
Thanks WF. As Squirrel says, our birds seem to be very choosy about what they will/ won't eat ! Sunflower hearst are definitely the favourite. Fat balls seem to be liked mostly by starlings, magpies, crows and rooks, who just decimate them in no time. The 'wild bird seed' is just left, so I no longer buy it. Fresh fruit and sultanas always vanish quickly. Maybe I should try a variation of your recipe. I haven't made my own fat balls since the children were small and Blue Peter encouraged children to get their parents to help them make some.
7 November 2009 3:29 PM
Brenda H, Have you tried putting your fat balls in squirrel proof feeders? The bars will be too close together for the larger birds to get to them. Mine are eaten by the Tits, Robin, Nuthatch and sometimes the sparrow but all are in squirrel proof feeders.
It’s a good idea to make your fat balls to suit the birds which eat them, then you get no waste.
Squirrel, I’ve often looked at those suet pellets but they are more than my budget will allow for. Both the recipes I posted will last my birds between 5 and 6 days (less during the summer). I dread to think how much they would cost me if I fed them suet pellets.
7 November 2009 4:36 PM
Hi WF, certainly buying the small bags can work out very expensive. Luckily I have found a supplier where I can buy 15 kg at a time which works out considerably cheaper. That does leave a small problem of storing it, of course, but at least it is all eaten, even if we do trip over the box from time to time!
7 November 2009 4:56 PM
Thanks for the tips and recipes: I do make my own in the depths of winter, and find they are appreciated by all kinds of birds- however, I usually use lard and had not realised that dripping sets harder! thanks.
Lindybird (Linda)
7 November 2009 5:03 PM
Hi Squirrel,
We too buy the suet pellets in bulk - it certainly is cheaper.
Hi WF - I also make my own fat balls and blocks - admittedly not because it's cost effective but because I enjoy making different recipes to see which the birds like, which happens to be the simplest - the peanut one!
Regards
Kezmo
"What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?" Henry David Thoreau
7 November 2009 5:25 PM
WF, yes our fat balls/ cakes are in the normal cages which they sell in the shops. Thanks for the tip. Can't think why we haven't thought of that for ourselves!
We also buy all our birdfood in bulk.( 22k) We store it in the old style large plastic refuse bins ( with lids) which we keep in the garage. We once left the seed bin outside and the squirrels had made a substantial hole in the lid by the time I caught one feeding itself ! Our's also love the suet pellets but we have to remove them each evening as the badgers also find them rather delicious.
7 November 2009 5:54 PM
Hi WF!
I used to make my own fat cakes too, usually I would use whatever fruit was left in the house and chuck it into a fat cake. Anyway, I made an apple and sultana cake and the song thrush took to guarding it, trying to keep it all for himselfd lol Unfortunately against a hoarde of starlings he eventually had to call it a day.
In autumn I collected wild berries to make fat cakes, unfortunately some of them started to smell slightly alcoholic...(oops!).
I found the fruit ones were preferred over the others, and they went wild for the elderberry fat cake I made for them. It was also a good way of stopping pigeons stealing all the food as they couldn't break into the fat cakes whereas all the other birds could hehehe Mostly though the fat cakes were eaten by the starlings, as long as they had their fat cake they'd leave the other feeders for the smaller birds!
7 November 2009 6:38 PM
I’ve not tried making fat balls with fresh fruit/berries, I’ll have to try it to see what they think.
The Blackbirds and Thrushes love a fresh apple, it has to be cut in half though, if I leave it whole they won’t touch it.
8 November 2009 10:49 PM
All this about fat balls has prompted me to let everyone know the dangers of using fat ball feeders that do not have a lid. Last year I had to rescue a starling who had managed to get stuck upside down inside a feeder, as he had tried to get the last little bit of fat ball that was left. With the help of a friend I was able to release him by cutting the feeder open but his wings were damaged and bleeding so I don't know if he will have survived the ordeal. So please, everyone, make sure your feeders have well fitting lids.
9 November 2009 7:25 AM
Hi Silverspotter and welcome to the forum. Many thanks for that information. I am sure we are all aware of the dangers of those green mesh bags but actual feeders possibly causing a problem certainly hadn't occurred to me so I appreciate you bringing it to my attention.
9 November 2009 8:04 AM
Silverspotter: All this about fat balls has prompted me to let everyone know the dangers of using fat ball feeders that do not have a lid. Last year I had to rescue a starling who had managed to get stuck upside down inside a feeder, as he had tried to get the last little bit of fat ball that was left. With the help of a friend I was able to release him by cutting the feeder open but his wings were damaged and bleeding so I don't know if he will have survived the ordeal. So please, everyone, make sure your feeders have well fitting lids.
We had a starling get caught in a fat ball feeder that DID have a lid (the cylindrical type of feeder). No idea how buut somehow the bird had managed to work the lid off to get in through the top and ended up trapped. Unfortunately the starling was found too late :-(
After that I fed the fat from a table attatched to the wall where there was nothing for them to get trapped in.
9 November 2009 10:24 AM
I have always used the square block cages but was about to change to the squirrel proof feeders and use the fat balls, but have now changed my mind again. Thanks Silverspotter and Kat Tai.
9 November 2009 11:53 AM
Wildlife friendly: 3 x 500g blocks of dripping (lard does not set hard enough)
This is helpful information. Thanks.
Is dripping generally available or do you make your own?
If you make your own, what's the best fat to use and do you get it from a butcher and then render it at home?
We do not eat enough meat now to make it! There was always dripping on the go when I was a kid.
If you buy it, where do you buy it?
Colin
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts - Henry David Thoreau