Magpie proof fat ball feeder

[Happyjoe]

Anyone know of a feeder where it actually keeps out the magpies/big birds? Or am I searching for something that doesn't exist! I thought, ah-ha, maybe someone on MN has found the product that works 😀

I've tried 3 caged feeders recently and no luck. I have bought on strength of product reviews but that doesn't seem to be reliable. The magpies strip all the fatballs in half a day and while I'm not against feeding magpies, the little birds are not getting a look in and it's costing a fortune on fatballs as well as the feeders themselves.

Any shared experience much appreciated before I give up.

It’s frustrating, isn’t it. I’ve had so many that promise to be squirrel proof etc, and each time I’m left thinking “if you’d only made the guardian cage a couple of inches bigger, the squirrel/large birds wouldn’t actually be able to reach the food!” It’s such a simple thing to get right, surely!

I’m convinced the manufacturers design them badly on purpose, to keep us spending more money on yet more useless feeders.

Anyway, the two I am currently using are these and they are about the best of a bad bunch that I’ve found. They are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, the squirrels and large birds do still get at the fat balls, but they do seem to make it sufficiently difficult to at least slow down a bit the rate at which they can manage to eat everything.

https://www.birdfood.co.uk/fat-ball-suet-feeder-guardian

https://www.birdfood.co.uk/brussels-fat-ball-feeder-guardian-pack

@RockaLock
Thank you so very very much, that's great. I did see the first one but gave up buying any more, ha. I can cope with slowed down :-) Thankyou. Will go buy. 😎

I really hope that your magpies are not more skilful or determined than mine 😂

Good luck, I hope it works for you.

Thanks! I think it's down to there being so many too, mobbed!