Tit balls with a net can be dangerous for birds and other animals. An alternative are fat balls without a net. Find out below what the advantages are and how to hang fat balls without a net.
In addition to classic litter, fat balls are one of the most popular types of birdseed. The small balls of fat, seeds and nuts can easily be hung in branches of trees, on strings or in bird feeders. And although the name is not wrong, not only tits love the food dumplings, but also a large number of other garden birds, for example the house sparrow, the nuthatch or even the great spotted woodpecker. But why are fat balls always wrapped in plastic nets and couldn't you just as well do without them? We would like to explain the advantages of plastic-free fat balls to you and show you how you can easily hang up the food balls without a net.
Tablets without a net: advantages
The nets around fat balls can be very dangerous. Small songbirds in particular can get their feet, beak or wings tangled in the plastic nets and suffer serious injuries. Larger birds, such as seagulls, have been seen devouring entire fat balls and nets, which is certainly not conducive to their digestion.
Netless fat balls, on the other hand, are a lot safer and also avoid additional plastic waste. Because the remains of the nets either end up in landfills or they remain in nature, where they pose a danger to other garden animals or decompose into microplastics and contaminate the soil.
Our Plantura fat balls are therefore net-free and are delivered in plastic-free packaging. In addition, our fat balls are made of pure insect fat, which is more sustainable than conventional alternatives and is a more natural source of food for our native birds than coconut fat or beef tallow. The feeding experience is rounded off with valuable berries, nuts and seeds, whatmakes our fat balls a nutritious product that can be offered all year round.
Hang up fat balls without net
You can easily hang fat balls without a net in a special metal holder, a thick, spirally wound wire or a coarse-meshed feed silo. It is only important that the fat ball holder is attached out of the reach of cats or other predators. It is therefore best to hang them up in such a way that curious paws cannot reach the holder from above or below. The optimal location is also a few meters away from a hedge or a tree, so that nobody can sneak up unnoticed and the small birds can still quickly get to safety in case of danger.
The feeding area is also ideally covered, but this is not so important with fat balls, as the greasy balls are less susceptible to moisture and mold growth than conventional litter food. And the dumplings are also better protected against contamination from bird droppings, since the birds cannot sit directly in the food and usually only cling to the holder from the side. But here, too, a canopy offers additional protection.
You can find out more practical tips on how to feed birds properly and what the controversial year-round feeding is all about in our info article.