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How to make fat balls for birds

How to make fat balls for birds

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To do

Which birds benefit from fat balls?

Fat balls are popular with blue tits, great tits and long-tailed tits, house sparrows, blackbirds, robins, woodpeckers, nuthatches and blackcaps.

Alternative ingredients

Add rehydrated raisins, currants and sultanas, small pieces of apple or pear, or grated cheese. Crushed peanuts and mealworms can also be added.

Foods to avoid

Avoid using turkey fat, which doesn't set like suet and lard, and can coat birds' feathers, preventing them from being able to fly. It can also spread disease. You should also refrain from using raisins and sultanas if you have a dog, as they are poisonous to them. Bear in mind that mealworms are harmful to hedgehogs, so only add these if you're hanging fat balls in winter, when hedgehogs are hibernating.

Watch Kate Bradbury explain how to make fat balls for birds in our No Fuss video guide:

Our fat balls for birds shopping list

You might already have what you need to get started on making your fat balls. If you don't, we've done the hard work for you with our handy shopping list.

How to make fat balls for birds

You Will Need

Bowl
Lard or suet
Saucepan
Spoon
String or twine
Old yoghurt pots
Unsalted peanuts
Currants
Sultanas
Oats
Breadcrumbs
Cake crumbs
Grated cheese

Total time: 12 hours Including overnight refrigeration time

Step 1: Mix the ingredients

Mixing together the dry ingredients — Mixing together the dry ingredients for bat balls

The best ratio for this fat ball recipe is one part fat to two parts dry mixture. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Step 2: Add the fat

Stirring in the melted fat with the dry ingredients

Melt some lard or suet in a pan and add the dry mix. Stir well until the fat has all been absorbed by the dry mixture, and everything sticks together.

Step 3: Make the fat balls

Tie string through the bottom of yoghurt pots and add the mixture

Make a hole in the bottom of a yoghurt pot and thread through a length of twine or string, then pack the pot with your warm fat mixture, to make fat balls.

Step 4: Remove the yoghurt pots

Set the cakes in the fridge overnight then remove from the pots — Set the balls in the fridge overnight then remove from the pots

Place your fat balls in the fridge overnight to set, then cut through the pot and and peel it away. Tie a big knot at one end of the twine to secure the ball.

Step 5: Hang the fat balls

Hang out the cakes in a sheltered tree or shrub — Hang out the balls in a sheltered tree or shrub

Hang the fat ball in a tree or shrub and wait for the birds to come and feast.

Kate Bradbury says
Keep a store of fat cakes in your freezer, taking just one or two out at a time on cold winter days. Never put them out in summer – in very hot weather the fat may melt and could smear onto birds’ feathers, preventing them from being able to fly.

Kate Bradbury