On 22/11/2012 12:13, Baz wrote:
Sacha wrote in :

On 2012-11-21 15:49:12 +0000, Baz said:

Sacha wrote in
:

On 2012-11-21 12:33:10 +0000, said:

Baz wrote:
Can we make our own fatballs? and if so how?
If we don't hang them under a "bell" the gulls have them away so
they have to be able to hang and not drop off.

THe boys have made these at beavers/cubs using lard + bird seeds,
which they melt or squish into an old yoghurt/rice pot with string
through the bottom to loop and hang up. All very bluepeter.

However, the birds do /not/ appear to like them. (The milage of your
birds may vary)

See my post to Baz. They don't like lard. We tried that a couple of
years ago!

Sacha, I don't see that post.
Baz

It's in the thread but basically, it's a suggestion that you use beef
suet or rendered fat. We've tried lard and they just didn't take it.

I see. Thanks. There goes our steak and kidney pud. The arteries will thank
you as well :-} (that's my double chin)

Baz

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) and the birds
love it.
So you can still have your Steak and Kidney pudding

In article , Baz
writes
t has cost us money to buy fatballs to get birds back into the garden. And
they love it. Nothing left within 24hrs. I can't identify the birds, but
that is not my wory.
Can we make our own fatballs? and if so how?
If we don't hang them under a "bell" the gulls have them away so they have
to be able to hang and not drop off.



Might be easier to buy one or two coconut shell ones -let them eat the
fat/insects out of those, then you can bring the empty shells indoors
and fill them up with fat and more seed etc. Baz.

Easier than trying to form fatballs !
--
Janet Tweedy

Sacha wrote in
:


Baz, why not cut a coconut in half, use the kernel and milk for your
self, then you have two half shells to use as "bells". The above
recipe is good, any "hard" fat will do but lard or suet is fine.

Bill




Bill, good idea with the coconut. We use coconut all the time but I
never would have thought of that. And the shell is durable. The
compost bin doesn't break them up very quickly. Thanks.

Baz

Thinking of this, I remembered my grandparents hanging out half
coconuts for birds and decided to try it here. The birds weren't even
faintly interested, so now I realise that my memory as a 4 or 5 year
old was a bit skewed. No doubt the the grandparents ate the coconut
and did just what Bill has suggested! Bit slow of me but I got there
in the end!

Happens to us all, over and over, but when the penny drops!

Baz

Janet wrote in
:

In article ,
says...


A tame butcher will often give away unwanted fat trimmed from meat;
you can render it down let it cool a bit, then mix in bird seed. When
it's even cooler but not yet set,smear it into a yoghurt pot through
which you've inserted a wire for hanging.

To render the fat; either, put it in a big pan cover with cold
water, heat them together, let it go cold and take the fat off the
top. (Do NOT heat the fat then add the water).

Or, just put the fat in a roasting tin in the oven. No water.

It stinks either way :-)

Janet



So, a tame butcher. I have heard it all now.
Glasgow is not renowned for its 'tame' consumers.

Baz

On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:44:25 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) ...

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:44:25 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) ...

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?

--
Kathy

No, we used to hang out coconuts - the tits loved the coconut flesh. But better foods are now available - no tit would bother with coconut when more nutritious fat balls are around.

And there may be a learning element - remember when tits learned to peck the tops of milk bottles, and the knowledge spread very quickly through the entire tit population? Then full fat milk was replaced by half fat, and the number of people having doorstep deliveries declined, and I understand that tits no longer go for milk bottles even if there is full fat milk lurking under the top. Maybe they no longer bother with any coconut that hasn't been re-stuffed with beef suet?

On 22/11/2012 22:53, Kathy wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:44:25 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) ...

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?




They wouldn't be so fussy if they didn't!
I read somewhere that some can tell margarine from butter.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?




They wouldn't be so fussy if they didn't!
I read somewhere that some can tell margarine from butter.

That has to be Storks
And dripping doesn't come from any joint of meat, only beef, and to get
the 2 kilo a week that we can go through we would have to be running a
café or something.

On 27/11/2012 18:23, David Hill wrote:

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?




They wouldn't be so fussy if they didn't!
I read somewhere that some can tell margarine from butter.

That has to be Storks


Oh, very good! :~))


And dripping doesn't come from any joint of meat, only beef, and to get
the 2 kilo a week that we can go through we would have to be running a
café or something.


Well, I've used ordinary lard when I couldn't get dripping, and it is
taken. Perhaps in desperately cold conditions, they're glad of
anything. I'll have to try both this winter and see what happens.
Certainly my lard-based pastry goes in the twinkling of an eye. Always
very welcome .. indoors and out!

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:00:11 +0000, Spider wrote:


Well, I've used ordinary lard when I couldn't get dripping, and it is
taken. Perhaps in desperately cold conditions, they're glad of
anything. I'll have to try both this winter and see what happens.
Certainly my lard-based pastry goes in the twinkling of an eye. Always
very welcome .. indoors and out!

When you stop and think, it's odd. In different parts of the country
people get different responses from birds. Some of us have given up on
everything except peanuts and sunflower hearts. Others find nyger
works. Some say birds don't touch lard but in other places they do.
Maybe we ought to just stop telling each other what works and what
doesn't and accept that birds have a regional diet too!

If it works where you are, stick with it. The important thing is that
you do stick with it as once birds find your garden they will rely on
it.

If you fail then (God forbid) Mike will probably write you a letter

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.

On 27/11/2012 22:25, The Original Jake wrote:
On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:00:11 +0000, wrote:


Well, I've used ordinary lard when I couldn't get dripping, and it is
taken. Perhaps in desperately cold conditions, they're glad of
anything. I'll have to try both this winter and see what happens.
Certainly my lard-based pastry goes in the twinkling of an eye. Always
very welcome .. indoors and out!

When you stop and think, it's odd. In different parts of the country
people get different responses from birds. Some of us have given up on
everything except peanuts and sunflower hearts. Others find nyger
works. Some say birds don't touch lard but in other places they do.
Maybe we ought to just stop telling each other what works and what
doesn't and accept that birds have a regional diet too!

If it works where you are, stick with it. The important thing is that
you do stick with it as once birds find your garden they will rely on
it.

If you fail then (God forbid) Mike will probably write you a letter

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.



I'll do almost anything to avoid *that* letter!
I'll put the bird food out tomorrow, honest, Jake! ;~).

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-11-27 17:23:04 +0000, Spider said:

On 22/11/2012 22:53, Kathy wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:44:25 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) ...

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?




They wouldn't be so fussy if they didn't!
I read somewhere that some can tell margarine from butter.

That would be the Storks...

*groaaaan*
--
--
http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-11-28 08:59:07 +0000, "Ophelia"
said:



"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-11-27 17:23:04 +0000, Spider said:

On 22/11/2012 22:53, Kathy wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:44:25 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I've used suet but dripping is cheaper (Target price 75p) ...

75p? Dripping is a free by product of any roast joint of meat.

I can understand why bird aren't keen on lard it's bland and
tasteless
compared to a nice bit of roast meat dripping.

Do birds have taste buds?




They wouldn't be so fussy if they didn't!
I read somewhere that some can tell margarine from butter.

That would be the Storks...

*groaaaan*
--

Inevitable, I'm afraid....!

lol
--
--
http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/