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

[@PinkSpagEastKent]

Never thought about making my own! Thanks 👍🏻

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

We couldn’t believe how easy it was the first time we tried. Good fun too!

[@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!

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Awesome 🤩 I love Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 hope your birds enjoy the fat balls

[@fionagell5947]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Good idea, the birds love them

[@BadarTVInternational]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thank you, your vanilla pods look fantastic

[@pillar350]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Excellent, the birds must love the mix that you have of insects in yours.

[@studiodreamavadi7209]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thank you, you should find all the ingredients in the description with links too.

[@gillianhorner6925]

How long do you chill them for please?

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Until they are hard : usually overnight and then I store them somewhere cool / I keep mine in my conservatory until I need them

[@synthwave7]

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 ?

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Some people use suet or peanut butter but it must be without additives sweeteners or salts

[@nancyholmquist2690]

check which foods to NOT feed your birds. Keep it natural

[@rhondabaroli2683]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thank you

[@katlinstirling3260]

Can I ask why did you use lard?

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

It’s high energy and keeps them together

[@20britneyspears]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Vegetable suet and coconut oil work well

[@20britneyspears]

@@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife thanks for the reply

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

You’re welcome 😉

[@completelyunaware8855]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Good question, we didn’t mention where we put them! We use a cage feeder which the birds cling to and peck through easily. They can also be placed in a mesh bag and hung from a branch.

[@camirichardson7485]

@@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife Thank you for this video. It would have been lovely to see a photo of the fat balls in their place outside. But, I did enjoy learning how to make these for my birds.

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

@@camirichardson7485 thank you for your feedback! We are learning as we do this. I cannot put a picture in the comments here or add one to the video unfortunately. If you search Facebook and put #steveandsuzy in the search bar then you will see a good picture.

[@gabrielleadams8542]

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. 👍👍👍👍

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Awesome, the birds will love those.

[@carolynnr.6409]

How much lard did you put in?

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

We use one pack which is 250g but the recipe can be flexed. We have just started blitzing up peanuts and putting them in. The birds seem to love them.

[@carolynnr.6409]

@@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife That would be 1 1/8 cups. Thank-you.

[@Shadow-7773]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

We’ve not had any squirrels in the garden but we do up the allotment / knowing the squirrels 🐿️ they’ll give anything a go

[@rebeccagarvey4830]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Could be / have you tried the combination of ingredients we use

[@rebeccagarvey4830]

@@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife yes, finally a squirrel found & ate, a couple blue jays, now how to keep squirrels from eating

[@annecollier8741]

Sprak up, please

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

One of our first videos. We struggled with a solution to sound quality back then. Watch out for our new and improved video on this topic soon.

[@justwannasay5454]

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.

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thanks for watching. Just ordered a new mic which arrived today. This is only a hobby but happy to spend a little! We take our advice from the RSPB who say ‘Although bread isn't harmful to birds, try not to offer it in large quantities, since its nutritional value is relatively low.’ Let them know if you think they should adjust their advice. I’ve never seen lard that’s loaded with anything in the UK but plenty of alternatives are available.

[@lifespanwellnessbeauty-60i64]

4qi5wktsf

[@michaelreay6992]

White processed bread never did me any harm as and I'm half bird

[@mummler]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Never give the birds just bread but the RSPB advise that it’s ok as part of a mixed diet. The ingredients in bread are quite safe but they, like us, need more than just carbs.

[@nicolasimpkins3640]

Brown bread in small amounts wet bread I give

[@cynthiasn6435]

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

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thanks for watching! The RSPB website says; 'Although bread isn't harmful to birds, try not to offer it in large quantities, since its nutritional value is relatively low. A bird that is on a diet of predominantly, or only bread, can suffer from serious vitamin deficiencies, or starve.' This is why we use a small amount. You can easily substitute ingredients too.

[@rhondabaroli2683]

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 !

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thank you

[@ApotheosisDivine69]

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.

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

The fat is the lard in the ingredients. The birds always prefer the fat ones.

[@ApotheosisDivine69]

@@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife Oh lol, I understand now, thanks!

[@joannesmith3991]

dont feed the birds bread , it swells on there stomachs , use mealworms and mix wild bird seed

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Good advice, there are plenty of better things that birds will eat. They love these fat balls every year.

[@jasmynjadebauer6326]

You need to speak up Can’t hear you

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thank you for your feedback / Since then we’ve got a go pro so sound has now improved

[@mammasita3511]

bread??!!!! not good. why put it in there ?

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

It’s only in there as a binding agent and not the main feed. It absorbs the fat which is the high energy part of the recipe which they need this time of the year. Leave it out if you wish you will simply find the balls wetter to touch and may have to use less fat.

[@joncawte6150]

Shouldn't feed birds white bread

[@ThatsWhatWeCallTheGoodLife]

Thanks for watching! The RSPB website says; 'Although bread isn't harmful to birds, try not to offer it in large quantities, since its nutritional value is relatively low. A bird that is on a diet of predominantly, or only bread, can suffer from serious vitamin deficiencies, or starve.' This is why we use a small amount. You can easily substitute ingredients too.