This week I made my own fat feeders and it was surprisingly easy and cheaper than buying them. Here’s how I made mine:
- I had bought four coconut feeders a few weeks ago so once they were empty I washed them out to use as my containers. Once they are empty I’ll reuse them again.
- I melted 250g of lard in a saucepan.
- Whilst waiting for the fat to melt, using a food processor, I mixed up a couple of slices of bread, peanuts and sultanas until the size of breadcrumbs.
- To the dry ingredients I added some mixed bird seed and some dried insects until I had 500g in total.
- Once the fat had melted I added the dry ingredients and mixed well.
- I spooned the mixture into the containers then put them in the fridge until set then hung them out for the birds to enjoy.
You don’t need to follow my method to the letter, the dry ingredients can be anything you like as long as you don’t use anything salty i.e. no bacon and no salted peanuts. Bits of apple or green vegetables such as cabbage or broccoli would be good too.
Avoid using bread or whole peanuts during the spring when young birds are about or when parents may take food into the nest.
Also, if you don’t have used coconut feeders you can use clean yoghurt cartons; just put a hole in the base, thread through some string and knot it below the base to keep it in place. When filling the pots ensure that the string lies down the middle of the mixture with enough left over to enable it to be tied up.
In all I think it took me 15 minutes to make four feeders which I think is time well spent.