Fat Balls

These are a real staple of bird feeding and quite economical.  Birds really benefit from the fat content as it provides them with much needed energy, particularly in the winter.  You can buy a big bucket of 50 for around £5 if you look hard enough, but I've tried these in the past and ended up throwing them away.  For a few extra pounds you can buy 'premium' fat balls which are a league apart from the cheap ones.

At the moment I'm trying two premium brands:

The ones at the top of the picture are from Garden Wildlife Direct and are under £10 for 50 balls.

The ones below are from Winston Wilds who are a smaller company apparently making their fat balls by hand and are a similar price.

I've not worked out if one is more popular than the other yet, but the handmade ones are definitely softer and I wonder what they will be like in warm weather.

A friend at works says her garden birds adore the premium fat balls she gets from Homebase and I'll try these when I need to buy more.

 If you find they have not been eaten after a week or so, crush them  up and put them on a bird table if you have one.  They will go quickly then, and you can put out fresh whole fat balls in your feeder.

My Fat Ball feeders

Added May 2017:

I no longer use Winston Wilds products because their reviews can not be relied upon.  I posted a negative review of their Suet Banquets which never appeared.  A follow-up email to the company about this, was never answered!

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