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Fat or suet balls DIY? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter rhitching
- Start date
jogresh
Bimble and patch
Hiya, over the years i've experimented widely with different homemade fat/suet/lard recipes and mixtures, as well as different bought ones.
In a nutshell, i'd say that the best (and prob cheapest?) option is to make your own from suet (not lard).
Re: what's best to put in them - i've spent a lot of time watching birds eat these things, and what they're after is the fat itself, not the seed inside, which makes sense, as fat has a lot more calories than an equal weight of seed. So if you watch closely, the tits, starlings, blackcaps and Myrtle Warblers etc are gobbling the suet, and allowing the seed to fall to the ground for the chaffinches. Of course, if finches have access to the mixture, they'll tend to pick the seeds out, as they don't really eat suet. But it's better to provide this separately to avoid them having to deal with the suet. So the best stuff to put in a "titbell" (as Tony Soper used to call them) - is more suet.
Wish i had a feeding station at the moment!
Cheers.
In a nutshell, i'd say that the best (and prob cheapest?) option is to make your own from suet (not lard).
Re: what's best to put in them - i've spent a lot of time watching birds eat these things, and what they're after is the fat itself, not the seed inside, which makes sense, as fat has a lot more calories than an equal weight of seed. So if you watch closely, the tits, starlings, blackcaps and Myrtle Warblers etc are gobbling the suet, and allowing the seed to fall to the ground for the chaffinches. Of course, if finches have access to the mixture, they'll tend to pick the seeds out, as they don't really eat suet. But it's better to provide this separately to avoid them having to deal with the suet. So the best stuff to put in a "titbell" (as Tony Soper used to call them) - is more suet.
Wish i had a feeding station at the moment!
Cheers.
Last edited:
JoeRawles
Feathers Wild Bird Care
Are you trying to catch us out?!
Anyway, as mentioned, suet is normally the main thing but sometimes seeds and other ingredients don't go a miss. Try this: http://www.brinvale.com/Shop/p-145-Brinvale-Wild-Bird-Cake-Mix.html#.Uw8kiIUa47w
You can then mould it in to any shapes, old coconut halves are popular.
livewithnature
Member
I buy Suets from stores & was wondering if they can go bad, in that how long can they be left out? My suets are exposed to the sun & rain, so I wonder if there is a time limit to the suet?
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