What are fat balls for birds
Fat balls are readily eaten suet which is frequently added to bird feeders, with mixtures included in these balls to cater to as many bird species as possible.
What are fat balls for birds is rendered, cooked down beef fat mixed in with dry ingredients like oats or wheat to make balls, which must harden in the fridge. Fed to wild birds more in winter, fat balls become suet as soon as other, more favorable bird food is added, including seed mixes, nut meat and insects.
To our wild birds in the yard, fat balls, also known as suet balls is a fatty intake of beef fat designed to replace energy birds lose in the winter, as they forage.
With that in mind fat balls usually become relevant when you should feed birds suet in the winter - and less in the summer as suet is fat after all, so can melt under the sun.
Rendered beef fat, including lard is safe for birds, whilst its counterpart vegetable oil shouldn't be fed to birds in your backyard.
Beef fat balls must be mixed in with wheat or oats to help create a dryer mixture to form the rounded balls. After this, you can begin adding one of, or only seeds, nuts, insects or dried fruits.
Birds species eat bird food that is similar to what their diet requires in the wild, so this is where fat balls can contain different ingredients so many birds can feed on fat balls as possible.
Fat balls can come in tubs of 50 balls, or sold in what isn't environmentally-friendly green plastic netting to hang in a bush.
With the best way to hang suet is in a bird feeder, surrounded in a metal cage for birds to peck at the hard suet balls through the cage openings.
Fat balls are rendered beef fat
What fat balls are is a mold of rendered beef fat, combined with dry ingredients to create round balls designed to be fed to wild birds.
Rendered beef fat is produced when fat is cooked down to remove impurities, and what you are left with is a runny white thick fat substance that will finally harden, but must remain soft at first to create the fat ball shapes.
Fat balls in their beef fat form may be difficult to attract birds to eat fat only this way, thus vital components of a wild birds diet is introduced
Still in liquid form, you can add two-part dry ingredients such as wheat or oats with the one-part beef fat. You'd then create the round balls to pop on a grease proof tray, than add to the refrigerator to allow the fat to harden.
Beef fat is the prominent ingredient of fat balls, in which will become what can be called suet balls, or fat ball suet once other ingredients have been added.
What are fat balls for wild birds is rolled up beef fat cooked down and allowed to harden; balls can only be rolled if dry ingredients are added to hold the mold shape.
Balls rolled in dry ingredients
Fat balls in its rendered beef fat form is limited to what you can do to it, with runny beef fat likely to cause harm to birds if left in this state, as it becomes stuck and mangled in birds feathers as they feed.
Rendered beef fat must be allowed time to harden in the fridge, but not before you add some bird safe mixtures.
Mixtures being dried oats or wheat to turn the rendered beef fat in to a playable mix, much like playing with Plasticine, or Play-Doh.
Fat balls are simply rolled up in the palm of the hard, much like you would making garlic balls or similar pastry treats - while taking into consideration fat ball may have to go in a fat ball suet bird feeder, thus smaller, consistent balls must be formed.
With one-part of this rendered beef fat remaining runny, you then add two-parts of oats and wheat to create a more dryer beef fat you can work with to make rounded balls.
Fat balls mixed with bird favorites
Whilst all types of common backyard birds can be seen feeding on fat balls with only wheat or oats as the secondary ingredient, you must add more favorable ingredients.
Depending on what birds frequent your yard the most, such as Woodpeckers, Sparrows or Cardinals - you must buy suet or make it your own that includes bird food ingredients that is part of their diet in the wild.
What is in fat balls for wild birds is mostly seed mixes making up the bulk of it; along with nut meat, millet, cracked corn and maybe sunflower seeds.
Remember all this would be included plus the oats and, or wheat that forms the shape of the fat balls.
To cater to as many birds as possible, its possible to buy suet fat balls formulated to attract different species to feed on it - depending on their dietary needs. But as a rule, most birds can feed off fat balls regardless of ingredients.
You can buy dried fruit fats balls, seed suet containing sunflowers only, insect suet filled with dried mealworms, or nutty suet balls.
Developed to be outdoors
What fat balls are made for is to feed wild birds, primarily in the autumn to winter time as it becomes a crucial source of high energy food.
To which fat balls are needed more in colder months as more energy is used up when birds forage.
Fat balls are made for outdoor use, so can last for quite some time. It can be weather dependant, but in colder times the fat balls can last up to week - or only a few days in the dead of summer. Far less time if you live in a hot, humid climate such as Texas.
I recommend offering fewer suet fat balls in the summer, as more crucial bird feed is needed, as birds feed their young on insects, fruits or seed mixes.
Fat out of suet balls can melt in the heat, thus can become entangled in a birds feathers.
Developed for use in your yard, be mindful that packaged suet fat balls can go off, lasting only a short time before they become rancid, with bacteria quickly germinating.
Fat balls do remain an important food group for most common backyard birds, as these suet balls must always be offered, come rain or shine.
Bird feeders designed for use with fat balls is a must, as they can offer some protection from the elements whilst keeping the suet well elevated - but more importantly keep suet off the ground, where fat balls rot far sooner.
Not only in fat ball form
If you weren't sure what fat balls were for birds, but do now since I've explained above, you may not know there's other forms of suet, other than fat balls.
What is popular with people when feeding suet to wild birds in the yard are what is called suet cakes; made just the same way as fat balls, only they are formed in to one-inch flat square blocks - with the appearance of a sandwich.
What you can do with these suet cakes, whilst also referred to as suet blocks - is to insert them in a specialty suet cake bird feeder, or string them up to hang.
Suet cakes can be used out of a bird feeder as they can normally be laid flat on a platform feeder, or garden surface without fear of rolling.
What other alternatives there are to fat balls is what are called suet pellets.
Suet in pellet form are basically small tubes that can be inserted into a suet pellet bird feeder, with the design allowing you to add pellets to other cage feeders, or indeed feed birds pellets on the ground.
To summarize
What exactly are fat balls for birds is rendered down beef fat, with the rounded shape formed using dry ingredients, to then allow to harden in the refrigerator.
Fat balls are commonly made up of 1-part rendered beef fat to 2-parts oats and, or wheat to allow you to handle the mixture to create shapes.
Before adding rolled up fat balls in the fridge, you would add seed mixes, dried fruits, peanuts or dried mealworms for birds to feed on their favorite food contained within the fat balls.
To offer wild birds fat balls with oats or wheat only won't perform as well unless their favorite food is mixed up in the fat balls.
Fat balls are usually sold for wild birds only, made widely available in pet stores or in the pet isle in supermarkets.
Other than fat balls, you can buy fat balls in suet cake or block form, including useful suet pellets for throwing over the platform feeder or on the ground.
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