How to make Fat Balls for Garden Birds - Bird Food Recipe

In this video we show how to make fat balls for garden birds. We use this no heat recipe to make fat balls at home when the weather is turning cold as they give a big energy boost to the wild birds.

The garden birds go mad for the home made fat balls in this recipe. It is easy to make your own fat balls from lard or suet and a fun thing for children to do and make their own.

We use lard as the base for our fat balls recipe. It is very cheap to buy and has a high calorific value for the birds. You can heat the lard up but we prefer to mix it from room temperature as this was much safer for our son when he was small. If you mix by hand then it takes a few minutes longer but is great fun for children!

We add breadcrumbs and oats to bind the mixture together. Without these the balls would look messy and the bids would have a greater danger of getting fats on their feathers. The oats can be chopped on a board or cut to fine powder in a food blender. With these we find a generous mug of oats and a couple of slices of bread works well. If the mixture looks too wet then just add more. Any bread will do, even stale bread makes good breadcrumbs. An alternative might be to use stale or unwanted breakfast cereals?

We use a pre mixed bird seed. You can add to it with a variety of ingredients. If you are going to use fruit then just chop it up small and don't make too many balls as they will not store for as long. Why not try mealworms, unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds or nyger seeds?

When mixed you can form this into any shape you choose. We have a feeders that takes balls of this size perfectly. You may wish to fill a coconut shell with the mixture or find another way to display it for the birds?

Have fun making these but please remember that they are a winter or cold weather feed. The birds will be grateful for the high energy supplement that these provide but will not like getting fats on their feathers when the weather warms up.

Bird seed used

Sunflower hearts that we use

Suet pellets

Niger seeds

Peanuts

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[PinkSpagEastKent]

Never thought about making my own! Thanks 👍🏻

[cowellcreative]

Great recipe, thank you. We're in rural Wales and we've even got woodpeckers coming up to our bought ones, so now I'm going to make them!

[fionagell]

Thank you for the video, commercially bought birdfood so expensive so I'll try making these.

[pillar]

Great video but I give suet balls and suet cakes in my backyard or you around and they just love it you could also add some dried meal worms some dried black soldier fly larva and other crushed insects

[BadarTVInternational]

very good video content, greetings from Indonesian vanilla growers🇲🇨

[gabrielleadams]

Thanks I have been wondering how to get my fat balls to bind together. Mine usually fall apart I had tried adding flour but this didn't work as well as your recipe. As you suggested I've added ground up mealworms. The birds are already going bonkers for them. 👍👍👍👍

[rhondabaroli]

Never lose your sense of humor in thus life ...now this ones for goof girl 💜lol

[synthwave]

In our country these balls atre expensive in the shops. I want to make my own - Is there no alternaive to LARD - what about Butter or syryp / flour perhaps - anyone tried this ?

[studiodreamavadi]

pls mention the ingredients while making videos....other laungage people can understand ...tq mam

[gillianhorner]

How long do you chill them for please?

[completelyunaware]

Do you put them on the ground or on a feeder. If you mentioned, my apologies if I missed it.

[britneyspears]

What can j use instead of lard? I'm vegan? Would butter work?

[Shadow-]

Do squirrels eat the fat ball too? They will eat all of it if, they do like these too?

[ApotheosisDivine]

Why are they called fat balls lol? I had many girls say I had that lol. Looks cool recipe though 👌 nice video 📹 love how you make them big too.

[rebeccagarvey]

My birds are not eating my homemade diets, maybe too sticky, , or gelatin?

[rhondabaroli]

This ones for her ( goof girl ! I thought it was good one Never lose sense of humor Just be awww enjoy life more and make bird food ! The blender s awe too !

[mummler]

You are never ever supposed to give birds any kind of bread product especially white bread because of the ingredients in the bread.

[garyalbrighton]

People - please try to give birds brown bread etc. White bread is really bad for them - as it is for us.

[redhead]

You should never give birds white processed bread. Of any amount. And I am sorry but I can barely hear you. 🤔 I also believe some lard is loaded with chemicals.

[cynthiasn]

Why the bread? It's not nutritious or healthy for birds.