How to Make Scrummy Fatballs Your Garden Birds Will Love In 5 Easy Steps

You've bought the turkey. Prepped the veg and popped them in the freezer. Envisaged the show-stopping pudding you're going to bake.

There'll be something for everyone. Grandparents love the potatoes. Kids love the chocolates. In-laws love the sprouts ... quite a clear sign they're in-laws, not blood relatives. You hate sprouts. Stuffing is more your thing.

Everyone will be catered for.

But as you stand in the kitchen, visualising the Christmas dinner to end all Christmas dinners, a little robin lands on the window ledge. He hops across the ledge, his spindly legs leaving delicate footprints in the snow. He cocks his inquisitive head, looking in to the kitchen. He looks at you, as if to say 'have you forgotten about me?' Oh dear.

It looks like you're making Christmas dinner for the birds too.

Making Fatballs Is Easy

There is no where near as much prep required for these bird treats as for your Christmas Dinner extraordinaire.

They're super simple to make. Ideal for smaller hands too.

Making fatballs is a fun activity for adults and children alike. Sure, you can buy fatballs, suet blocks and pellets, but where's the fun in that? Making your own is cheaper, more fun, and a great opportunity to spark some discussion with the youngsters about the birds hopping across the window ledge.

What Do We Need?

 - The main ingredient: Lard, suet or beef dripping.
This is the glue that's going to hold everything together. Your local butcher might have these, or if not, most supermarkets have it in the fridge aisle near the butter. It may be branded as Frytex beef dripping, or there are many supermarket own brands. Important note - don't get butter. Or margarine, coconut oil, peanut butter, turkey/chicken dripping etc. These are NOT suitable for birds. They don't provide the right saturated fats for our feathered friends, and don't freeze as solidly as lard. This means grease can get onto the bird's feathers, which can destroy their heat-insulating capabilities. In other words, stop them from being able to keep warm. This can be lethal. So, stick to what we've recommended. Lard, suet or beef dripping. Don't risk anything else.

-  Time to get creative: raisins, sultanas, oats, seeds, peanuts.
Within reason. Give ingredients a quick google to check they're suitable for birds before adding them to your mixture. Certain things, such as foods containing salt, are definite no-go's as will make the birds sick. With larger nuts like peanuts, we recommend chopping or blitzing them in a food processor to make them a bit easier for the birds to nibble. You roughly want two parts dry ingredients to one part 'wet'(i.e. lard).

- Something to put them in : yogurt pots, old plastic takeaway containers, coconut shells.

Not that we imagine you have many coconut shells lying around the house. But if you're wanting to create Michelin Star fatballs, this can be a nice touch. These are used as the mould while the fatball sets. If you don't have a suitable cage feeder, you might also want something to pierce a hole in the fatball with, and some string to hang it once it's set.

- And finally : a large bowl.
We've not got much to say on this one. Time to get mixing!

Time to Get Making: 5 Easy Steps For Scrummy Fatballs Your Garden Birds Will Love

1) Take the lard block and chop it into pieces. If doing this with children, keep sharp knifes out of reach and maybe leave step one to someone with bigger hands!
2) Start to press it between your hands over the bowl. It will be quite solid to start with, but your hands will quickly warm it up, making it easy to mash up. 
3)    Once it becomes easier to work, start adding your dry ingredients. Take a handful and mash into the fatball over and over again until it's all combined. Then add some more! Keep doing this until the mixture begins to become crumbly. You want it to all stick together.
 4) Once you're happy, press it into your plastic container. Put it in the fridge overnight to set.
 5) Pop your fatballs out of their moulds. These can go straight into a feeder, or you hang them by piercing a hole through, and using string. Either way, these a tasty treat the birds are going to love!

And that's it!

A quick, cheap and fun way to give the birds in your garden a taste of this festive food fabulousness.

Speaking of which, did you remember to add vegan gravy to the shopping list? Isn't your sister-in-law vegan?

Comment below. What do you like to add to your fatball recipe?