Q What are fat balls for feeding birds?. Never buy fat balls surrounded by plastic mesh as this is a hazard for small birds as they can easily get entangled in it. You can't stop the rats appearing but you can prevent them from climbing your bird table and getting to the fat ball. A Fat balls are a popular food to buy for garden birds.They are made of suet and dry food, such as peanuts and sunflower seeds. If you love bird feeders, then you know one of the tasks of any bird feeder owner is to make sure that pests stay far away from the precious bird food. To keep rats away, simply place an old cow ‘pat’ near where some recent rat droppings have been discovered. You can also pop them in a bird feeder, if you have one. However, when feeding the birds it pays to consider how to avoid attracting pests into your garden, such as rats or infestations of pigeons. Choose a tree or shrub with easy access for birds and don’t put too many out at a time, as uneaten food will attract pests. If we start by looking at placement of your bird feeder, the more open the better. Not only is suet an attractive food for many different birds, but it can also attract many unwanted visitors to feeders, including squirrels, raccoons, mice, rats, and even bears.Large suet feeders should be used with appropriate baffles and other safeguards to discourage these feeder pests. One of the most annoying–not to mention yucky–pests that are attracted to bird feeders is rats. However, squirrels and mice might look cuter but will still create problems for you and your yard. 3. Never wrap your fat balls in plastic netting as the birds can easily get their feet trapped in the netting. Investing in the right food is important. When ingested by the rats, they become extremely ill and begin to vomit, eventually resulting in death. Hanging fat outside in your trees will certainly attract birds to your garden. Fat balls are a good winter option, along with mixed bird seed, meal worm and peanuts. As previously said the food on the ground is the bulk of the problem. Making fat balls from suet and seeds is a well-known way to feed the birds but the RSPB has warned cooks against using excess cooking fat from festive roasts as a binding agent because this greasy mixture can damage the birds' feathers. The neighbors believe that the feeders are attracting rats and also are upset that the birds fill up in the woman’s yard and then use their yard as a bathroom. I use 2.5mm galvanised wire from a garden centre to run between the house wall and some trellis about 4m away with the feeders hanging from the wire, so there are a few feet of bare wire that the rats would have to somehow cross before they reach any food. Fat balls for birds. You can also add seeds (like millet, niger, sunflower) to the fat mixture and hang them in the trees. The key thing to note when trying to prevent attracting rats is to ensure that they cannot get access to food - prevent food from reaching the floor. Hiya, I pretty much feed the birds all year around and at various times of the year I do get rats. Use collection trays below hanging feeders and if you have a bird table its worth having a raised edge around the sides, again to … Rats fear avian predators, they will often take sheltered routes to source food, under vehicles, sides … Fat and suet are an important source of high energy for birds, which is why our fat balls and suet products are beneficial for birds all year round. Fat balls and other fat-based products provide excellent nutrition for birds in the colder, winter months, however, they are also suitable for summer feeding. 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