Fees and coop question

[Duckfuzz]

So I am new to this I have 2 five week old Perkins. I am feeding purina flock raiser. I have seen people say they feed this the whole life of a duck. I have also read all of the protein recommendations. It has 20% protein. Can I keep feeding this? Or should I find something with less protein?

Second question on coop building. I am finishing their outdoor housing this weekend. I am building a hoop coop that I found plans for here on BYC. I have read about people burying hardware cloth 2 feet deep all the way around. Others say a skirt just below ground level is fine. I live in southern Colorado and have coons, coyotes, foxes, snakes (rattle and bull) in the area. What are your experiences and opinions? Thank you all so much!! I have spent so many hours on here after an impulse duck purchase. I have learned so much from all of you already.

 

[Duckfuzz]

Anybody?

 

[TLWR]

flock raiser should be fine. If they are all girls, you can swap to chicken layer food.

As for your coop - depends on what you want to do. I laid down a 2' wide apron around the pen and covered that with sod.

 

[Duckfuzz]

I like the apron idea just wondered which was more secure. If I don't have to dig that would be preferred!

 

[TLWR]

I think the apron makes more sense to me... a digging animal is going to hit the apron very quickly and realize it needs to give up as it isn't getting anywhere. They will dig at the pen fence and even if the back up and try again... still going to hit something for a while and by then, they should have long given up.

If you bury down 2', then something can dig and get a hole started.

I think both would function well, but I don't want anything digging holes around the pen, so I want to stop them sooner.


And I also didn't want to dig down 2'. I dug down a bit and removed sod, placed my apron and then covered it, got more dirt and then laid new sod on top. Back breaking enough, but less so than a 2' trench around my pen to dig down.

 

[Duckfuzz]

Thank you for the input. There are a lot of differing opinions on this site. I wanted to hear from someone who has ducks instead of chickens.