Feed the birds? If yes, with what? You will quickly find what you are looking for in retail. However, you can easily make fat balls yourself, for example.
Fat balls help the birds through the winter. Between November and February, the food supply for our feathered friends is scarce. NABU therefore recommends providing feed primarily during this period. In principle, however, you can also provide food for the birds in your garden all year round. Fat dumplings are very easy to make yourself and guarantee species-appropriate care for native garden birds.
Why should fat balls be fed?
Tit balls are a welcome source of food for the birds in the garden. The insects in the gardens have decreased significantly in recent years. The parent birds are therefore finding it increasingly difficult to provide their offspring with food. Long distances often have to be covered to obtain food. In the process, the animals lose energy and a boost in the form of fat balls is therefore welcome all year round. Bird lovers have observed that most fat balls are not consumed in the winter, but in the summer months, when the birds use up the most energy during their flights.
Tough balls as a source of danger
Meisenknödel are also sold in stores. However, these cannot be recommended without qualification. The commercial fat balls are often sold wrapped in plastic nets. The birds can get caught in the nets and cause serious injuries. Furthermore, fat balls with nets are unsuitable for most bird species. For example, the robin finds it difficult to get hold of the net. That's why our instructions for making fat balls do without a net.
What food should be used for fat balls?
The basic composition consists of energy-rich fat feed such as sunflower seeds, oat flakes or wheat.
In addition, various additives can provide variety:
- Raisins
- Peanuts
- Slivered Almonds
- Hazelnuts
- Pine Nuts
- Apple Pieces
- Coconut Flakes
- Seeds
- Cranberries
You can when craftinguse up various leftover fat balls and thus always ensure variety at the feeding place.
What fat should be used for fat balls?
The lining is surrounded by fat. After it has hardened, this gives the fat ball its shape. Beef or mutton tallow is usually used. You can get tallow from the butcher. You can also experiment with other fats. Sufficient curing at temperatures of around ten degrees is important.
Tip: If the fat is too soft, the birds' plumage can get dirty.
Make fat dumplings yourself - what do you need?
Before you can start making fat balls, you should have the necessary utensils ready.
- Grain Mixture
- Bold
- Cooking pot
- Spoon
- cord
Make simple fat dumpling balls - this is how it's done
1. Put the fat in the saucepan and heat slowly (fat that is too hot stinks)2. Add the grain mixture to the soft fat, grains should be covered by the fat
3. Stir the grain mixture gently
4. Allow the fat and grain mixture to cool (the mixture must remain malleable)
5. Form the fat and grain mixture into dumplings, using a rope to secure them
6. Allow the fat balls to harden
7. Hang fat balls
Make fat balls as feeding bells - this is how it works
You will need the following ingredients:
- Grain Mixture
- Bold
- Cling Film
- binding wire
- heavy rope
- Clay pots (diameter ten to twelve centimetres)
- Spruce or fir branches as decoration
- Cooking pot
- Scissors
- Spoon
How to do it:
1. Line the flowerpot with cling film
2. Make a hole over the vent
3. Pull the rope through the opening (about 50 centimeters long)
4. Put the fat in a pan and heat slowly
5. Remove the liquid fat from the heat
6. Add the seed mixture and stir
7. Pour the viscous mass into the flower pot up to the brim (rope should be in the middle of the flower pot)
8. Put the flower pot in the fridge for a few hours
9. Take the fat balls out of the pot and remove the cling film
10. Attach the fir branches to the fat balls with binding wire
11. Hang up the fat balls
Tip: You can also make a bird feeder out of a clay pot.
Make quick fat balls without heating
WhoIf you want to use vegetable fat when making fat balls and want to avoid heating the mass, you can use peanut butter instead of beef tallow.
Tip: Use natural peanut butter without palm oil.
The children can also help out with this variant. The peanut butter is kneaded well with your hands and shaped into the desired shape. Kernels, nuts and seeds are pressed into the easily malleable mass.
Threading on a chain is a good way to hang up the small balls. This works best when a needle is used to thread the thread.
Hint: It doesn't have to be balls. Instead of forming balls, just use cookie cutters.
Where should fat balls be hung?
A clear and easily visible place in the garden or on the balcony should be found for the fat balls. So that the birds can get to safety and find cover, it is an advantage if there are trees and bushes in the immediate vicinity of the feeding place.
It is important to attach the fat balls at a sufficient height and, above all, in a way that is safe for cats. The proximity to panes of glass should be avoided. If the feeding takes place on the balcony, it is a good idea to tape the window panes so that the invisible glass does not become a dangerous trap for the birds.
Meisenknödel are not accepted - why?
If the fat balls remain untouched, this can have various causes. There are probably too few birds in the vicinity, the fat ball is hanging in the wrong place or the composition is not very attractive to the animals.
The following causes can play a role:
- Weather is too warm (fat becomes liquid, dumplings drip)
- Water from Above in Winter (Sump Balls Freeze)
- Dumplings hanging on top of each other (bottom dumplings get soiled with feces)
- bad approach angle
- Neighbors feed too (oversupply)
- No escape routes available
- Food doesn't taste good (sunflower seeds, oatmeal, raisins, nuts, seeds)
- Muffball hangs too low
- many cats in the neighborhood
Birds are good observers. If one bird accepts the fat ball, the others follow. If the exact opposite is the case, the rest of the birds will also reject the dumpling.