Making vegetarian fat balls?

I want to make some fat balls to feed the birds with a group of children of whom at least one is Hindu, I believe some may be Muslim and one or two others are vegetarian.

While being vegetarian does not necessarily prevent you from handling meat or giving it to animals, I'd rather not argue the toss with small children who may be a bit wary of what their parents will say; in any case Hindus believe cows should not be killed (so I could not use beef suet) and Muslims would have a serious problem handling pig meat (so I could not use lard).

Can I use the type of vegetable fat that is for making pastry e.g. Trex, Cookeen? I believe it is the saturated fat that birds need, and these are about 50% saturated fat.

 

Thanks!

  • www.purina.co.uk/.../what-do-cats-drink
    Although I’m not a cat lover. But again lots of my friends give milk to there cats of which cats will drink, but again is not good or recommended. Recommended for cats is water.

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • www.rspca.org.uk/.../gardenhedgehogs
    And a link about Hedgehogs and water is recommended not milk

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • www.vets-now.com/.../
    Again not wildlife, but dogs. Just showing this as an example. I’ve got neighbours who give there dogs some of there chocolate, which dogs do enjoy. But again chocolates that myself and others do like, can be dangerous for dogs, except in small amounts and only given to dogs very very infrequently. You should buy dogs special chocolates that are ok for dogs. The point I’m putting across when feeding wild birds or other wildlife. They might enjoy what they are drinking and eating the food you put out for wild birds and other wildlife. But food and liquid that we all eat and drink is not necessarily good for wild birds and other wildlife.

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • Just because I’m a vegetarian doesn't mean some of the wild birds are vegetarians or that is good for them. As mentioned I’m a vegetarian as I have been since I was 5 years old, but I’m very careful what food I put out for wild birds and other wildlife since I started feeding wild birds in my garden way back in 1957/1958. I must be getting old mentioning those two years.

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • Thanks for the posts, everyone. Something to consider for all of us. But I wonder if Katie is still teaching or if she reads this forum anymore. I was puzzled by the time of day given for her original query on the 27th of January. The time of 11.50 PM is nearly 4 hours from now in the UK--very strange! It took me awhile to realise that the year of her first post was 2011 and only countries very far to the east of the UK have arrived at 11.50 PM today, the 27th of January!

    Kind regards, Ann

  • Unknown said:
    Thanks for the posts, everyone. Something to consider for all of us. But I wonder if Katie is still teaching or if she reads this forum anymore. I was puzzled by the time of day given for her original query on the 27th of January. The time of 11.50 PM is nearly 4 hours from now in the UK--very strange! It took me awhile to realise that the year of her first post was 2011 and only countries very far to the east of the UK have arrived at 11.50 PM today, the 27th of January!

    I never noticed that! Very strange! Just don’t know what’s happened. But well spotted!

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • I’ve just checked Katie’s activity log and it’s blank.

    Regards,

    Ian.

  • Unknown said:
    You should buy dogs special chocolates that are ok for dogs.

    Absolutely.  Normal chocolate is poisonous for dogs and other pets.

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • Thanks for checking, Thomo. I've noticed a few times before that sometimes people reply to posts which are very old. I expect that some are the result of a new-ish poster searching for a thread on the topic they are currently interested in, but occasionally it seems that someone intent on posting spam will choose an old post and add their rubbish to it in a new post. That is what made me curious to see if the most recent post on Katie's thread was a spam post, but no, this time the current replies are genuine.

    Clare, you are right about chocolate and dogs. And I recently read that you shouldn't put fruit such as raisins and grapes on the ground in the garden because they are bad for foxes as well as for dogs.

    Kind regards, Ann

  • Not sure what Ray's problem was.

    It is quite easy to make nutritious vegan fat balls for wild birds.

    1 cup coconut oil
    1 cup vegetable Suet
    2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
    1/2 cup dessicated coconut
    1/2 cup linseed
    1 cup mixed seed (I used sunflower and pumpkin) slightly crushed up
    1/2 cup chopped raisins

    Process

    Melt your coconut oil and suet in a saucepan until liquid.
    Stir in the crunchy peanut butter.
    Mix in everything else thoroughly so that the oil is fully incorporated.
    Whack it in moulds and place in the freezer until solid.

    If hanging these, put lengths of string through them before going to the freezer.
    If pouring into cupcake trays, then place a piece of greaseproof paper in each before pouring to ease them out when they are frozen.