Lard (pork fat, and similar soft fats like chicken and turkey) is not really suitable for feeding to birds ... it doesn't set hard and makes their beaks greasy which they then wipe on their plumage ... this makes their feathers clump together and reduces their insulation ... it causes real problems for birds, particularly the smaller ones.
Dripping (beef fat, and similar hard fats like lamb, mutton etc) set hard without being so greasy and the birds are able to peck at them without getting greasy beaks. Much better.
Interesting as the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts both use lard in their recipes, I only know as I’ve just started making my own.
I used to buy the blocks from Wilkos but they stopped selling the ones ‘my’ birds eat ☹️.
I think lots of fat balls are just made from cheap fill ingredients like many of the cheap bulk buy seed mixes. We were given a lot and all the sparrows, about the only things we get, just picked through the balls and spat most of it out onto the floor. I decided to make my own with no filler ingredients and there was much less waste.
I've put peanuts up and they were ignored, Niger seeds and they were ignored as well even though we get the occasional group of goldfinches, in fact I think so many people feed the birds around here that most of the food goes to waster because there is to much of it. We do see the blackbirds demolish the natural food in our gardens so I'm growing more of those things than having to buy stuff.
For what it's worth, we use RSPB Super Suet Balls that you buy in boxes of 150. They're demolished very quickly. The House Sparrows alternate between these & sunflower hearts and most days we get a large group of Long-tailed Tits having a late feast on them at the end of the afternoon.
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I think there’s sometimes confusion between lard (pork fat) which remains soft at room temperature and dripping which, like suet, is beef and hard at room temperature.
I sometimes see fats referred to as ‘pork lard’ and ‘beef lard’.
Real lard (pork) can be almost as soft at room temperature as turkey fat which is a big no-no for birds because of the way the grease gets into plumage.
Certainly back in the days when I was helping @WonkyWomble and her brother make Blue Peter bird cake, we were told not to use lard. We used packs of dripping from the butcher, or suet.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I’m chopping up the fat balls for the ground feeders, I buy the suet block from Wilco for the feeders, can break one in half in the fat ball feeder, it’s squirrel proof. The blocks come in three different flavours, mostly they prefer the pink ones but will eat the others as well. I buy them in bulk all posted for one price and sometimes post free.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I used to put up peanuts and fat balls and they both rotted in their hangers. Sunflower hearts went down well, but half were spat out. I tried some coconut shells filled with suet and seeds too, but that wasn't touched.
I was worried about rats so I stopped feeding birds for a while. I didn't want to spend money on buying food that was just rotting or spat out to feed wood pigeons. I might give it another go, I do miss seeing visiting birds like woodpeckers.
Tesco ready made pastry seems more popular than fat blocks. I hang the two side by side and the pastry is eaten much more quickly. About the same price.
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I only know as I’ve just started making my own.
I used to buy the blocks from Wilkos but they stopped selling the
ones ‘my’ birds eat ☹️.
Failure is always an option.
I decided to make my own with no filler ingredients and there was much less waste.
I've put peanuts up and they were ignored, Niger seeds and they were ignored as well even though we get the occasional group of goldfinches, in fact I think so many people feed the birds around here that most of the food goes to waster because there is to much of it. We do see the blackbirds demolish the natural food in our gardens so I'm growing more of those things than having to buy stuff.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The blocks come in three different flavours, mostly they prefer the pink ones but will eat the others as well. I buy them in bulk all posted for one price and sometimes post free.
We don’t put peanuts out, they go rotten, we chop them up for the ground feeders.