What is wrong with my suet?

I have found that I can smash suet balls to bits by putting them in a plastic bag, sealing it and smashing them with my rolling pin, Then I can sprinkle them on the ground. The pigeons hoover them up, but if there are chunks of fat ball then the magpie comes down for a peck at them.

If the suet isn't crumbly, and it might be a bit old from not being eaten, (crumbliness is caused by oyster shell grit or sand) then you can scrape off any mouldy bits and melt it in a bowl in the microwave, then reform it  into a suet cake by using one of the empty packs from a previous square pack, or use a cream carton or something similar to reform it. This seems to rejuvenate it, especially if you add some extra pieces of dried mealworm, sunflower hearts or peanut pieces. Then the birds will eat it.

Hi Woodpecker

Great information about suet. {thumbs up}

I smash a whole fat ball very day, sprinkle the smashed contents in the bird food dishes on my ground feeders and sprinkle some around the edges for the larger birds

One thing I have learned about Fatballs or any kind of Fat is not to place it in a warm room in a house over a period of time - worse still over a radiator.  I place my fat balls in the wheely bin outside at all times.

If the Fat gets warmed up it goes like sticky putty and is very yuk to break up - and is deemed useless as the quality is not so good for the birds.

I need to find my fat ball feeder at the moment!

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Woodpecker said:

If the suet isn't crumbly, and it might be a bit old from not being eaten, (crumbliness is caused by oyster shell grit or sand) then you can scrape off any mouldy bits and melt it in a bowl in the microwave, then reform it  into a suet cake by using one of the empty packs from a previous square pack, or use a cream carton or something similar to reform it. This seems to rejuvenate it, especially if you add some extra pieces of dried mealworm, sunflower hearts or peanut pieces. Then the birds will eat it.

Hello Woodpecker,

A warm welcome to the forum from me, especially with a good tip like that. I have a box full of fat balls that I was wondering what to do with. I have previously chopped and bashed them up then mixed it with the seed and put it on the bird table and other flat feeders, but have found if it doesn't get eaten straight away it forms a gooey mess and sticks to the table so has to be scraped off with my wallpaper scraper! I can't put it on the ground because my dog eats it.

I'll try your rejuvenation tip.

Susan H said:

I'll try your rejuvenation tip.

Hello Blackbird & Sparrow :-)

First of all, thanks very much because you gave me the idea for my user name, and it wasn't already taken:-)

Secondly, I should have said 'Hi I'm new' before I started, but the page is taking so long to load or reload and I had such trouble trying to register that I thought I ought to get to the point straight away.

Thirdly Sparrow, I've never been very successful reforming sandy or gritty suet balls (although some are much better quality than others), but suet blocks or RSPB or Jacobi Jayne suet cakes reform very well.

If I could find suet available from a butcher then I would make my own suet cakes more often. I use Atora suet but it sometimes works out more expensive than buying suet cakes.

I often refill coconut halves with a mixture containing suet, seed, peanut pieces, mealworm pieces and odd bits and pieces from bird food bags. It seems such a waste to throw away a perfectly good coconut shell.

I sieve the suet first (because it contains a lot of flour) then melt it in the microwave and add it to the food then pour it into the coconut shell. Watch out for leaks around the rope handle, or the holes at the rounded end of the coconut shell. Also, make sure that your rope faces the right way around for your particular hanger. Wait for it to cool then put it in the fridge to set harder or you can store in the freezer longer term if you have plenty of room.

P.S. I've put a (not brilliant) pic of my resident woodpecker and fledgling on another thread about what time birds feed. He's my namesake but I think the one in the pic might be Mrs Woody because her red isn't as bright as his.

Nite, Chris X

Hi Woodpecker,

I also refill my coconut halves with home made mix, and like you I use the Atora suet (although I have never thought of seiving it first), and I have had many a spill when the melted mixture pours out of the holes round the rope handle!!!! I find the jackdaws and starlings in particular like my own mix, but when someone recommended the berry suet pellets I bought some and these are now what my regulars seem to want, from jackdaws to robins, from sparrows to blue tits, from starlings to blackbirds.

It is the box of useless fat balls I was wondering what to do with, and I will try melting them down as you suggested. If that doesn't work, I'll take them to the river and distribute them in the bushes for the birds down there!!

Sparrow you have me worried now.

I was just about to put in a bird food order and get a box of buggy fat balls for half price. Now I'm not sure whether to try fruity nibbles instead. I already buy buggy nibbles and peck n' mix, but the greedy starlings take most of it before other birds get a look in.

The fat balls that I've been smashing up and throwing on the ground are already quite old and aren't very good quality as they contain a lot of sand and fall apart when it rains (won't mention any brand names)

Wish list: I would love to see a Jackdaw

Chris X

Hi Woodpecker

Anytime with the name

Well now..... I will say hello, and welcome to the RSPB Forum and enjoy yourself. {smile}

Hey love your ideas about the suet.

I have heard of/used Atora Suet but been a long time since I have used it for any reason at all

I must try to re-use the coconut shells as they are quite robust.

Goodnight Chris, and pleasant dreams

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Woodpecker said:

I'll try your rejuvenation tip.

Hello Blackbird & Sparrow :-)

First of all, thanks very much because you gave me the idea for my user name, and it wasn't already taken:-)

Secondly, I should have said 'Hi I'm new' before I started, but the page is taking so long to load or reload and I had such trouble trying to register that I thought I ought to get to the point straight away.

Thirdly Sparrow, I've never been very successful reforming sandy or gritty suet balls (although some are much better quality than others), but suet blocks or RSPB or Jacobi Jayne suet cakes reform very well.

If I could find suet available from a butcher then I would make my own suet cakes more often. I use Atora suet but it sometimes works out more expensive than buying suet cakes.

I often refill coconut halves with a mixture containing suet, seed, peanut pieces, mealworm pieces and odd bits and pieces from bird food bags. It seems such a waste to throw away a perfectly good coconut shell.

I sieve the suet first (because it contains a lot of flour) then melt it in the microwave and add it to the food then pour it into the coconut shell. Watch out for leaks around the rope handle, or the holes at the rounded end of the coconut shell. Also, make sure that your rope faces the right way around for your particular hanger. Wait for it to cool then put it in the fridge to set harder or you can store in the freezer longer term if you have plenty of room.

P.S. I've put a (not brilliant) pic of my resident woodpecker and fledgling on another thread about what time birds feed. He's my namesake but I think the one in the pic might be Mrs Woody because her red isn't as bright as his.

Nite, Chris X

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Woodpecker said:

Wish list: I would love to see a Jackdaw

Your wish is my command. Here are 2 of my regulars (lousy pics, fairly normal for me)

Susan H said:

Your wish is my command. Here are 2 of my regulars

Wow Sparrow Thank you so much. I'm impressed. I have never seen a real live jackdaw

I'm also impressed with your heavy duty bird pole. I was looking at this in my local garden centre recently. Mine isn't heavy duty like this and the pigeons have made it wobbly. I would like to replace mine but OH would have a fit