Few questions

[HayleyCrum]

1. my dog keeps getting into my duck food and she throws it up every-time, i have it put away but its like she wants it so bad even though it makes her sick, is this hurting her all together or is the food just not meant for her so it doesnt sit well?
2. How do you all keeps snakes from getting in your cages with your ducks, snakes can shrink to about nothing so im worried they will be able to climb through the wire?
3. best remedies or advice for keeping your ducks house as clean and mess as possible
4. best ideas on how to keep the bees from building nest or away from ducks in general
5. what food donyou guys feed your ducks, i feed mine some from tsc, is this okay or should i use something better?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My dogs will eat the poultry feed if I let them. Thankfully they are separated by fencing. If it's making your dog sick then I wouldn't let him eat it.

I have found snakes in my coop I pick them up and take them down the road. Thankfully it's only been blk snakes not poisonous ones. About the only way to keep any from getting into your coop Is to keep the doors closed.

I clean my coops every day I use deep litter on the floors and go in and scoop out all wet bedding fluff and add as needed.

As for bees building nests close to your ducks I guess knocking the nests down with a broom or pole would be about the only way. I don't use chemical sprays around my home it's not safe for our birds or us.

I use a NON GMO poultry feed from our local feed store we don't have a TSC here but they carry good brands of feed. What is the name of your feed?

 

[HayleyCrum]

My dogs will eat the poultry feed if I let them. Thankfully they are separated by fencing. If it's making your dog sick then I wouldn't let him eat it.

I have found snakes in my coop I pick them up and take them down the road. Thankfully it's only been blk snakes not poisonous ones. About the only way to keep any from getting into your coop Is to keep the doors closed.

I clean my coops every day I use deep litter on the floors and go in and scoop out all wet bedding fluff and add as needed.

As for bees building nests close to your ducks I guess knocking the nests down with a broom or pole would be about the only way. I don't use chemical sprays around my home it's not safe for our birds or us.

I use a NON GMO poultry feed from our local feed store we don't have a TSC here but they carry good brands of feed. What is the name of your feed?

what do you mean by you use deep littler on the floors? and its the purina duck pellets.

 

[DuneDucks]

1. A couple of my dogs and the cat were trying to eat the duck food. Didn't see any of them throw-up, but I got on them pretty quick for it too. Probably not ideal but I doubt it'd be much worse than all the other scraps, horse poop, and everything else my dogs eat.

2. Snakes I'm anticipating being a decent problem for me as well. Besides reducing spots around the house that will attract them, and proactively trapping/removing them, I don't know how much can realistically be done. I've seen a rattlesnake get up on my roof before, so I can't see any manner of fence stopping them if they really want to get in. I'm just going to leave the bullsnakes alone and hope they keep the rattlers away.

3. I don't put food in the coop. Take out any big/noticeable poops in the morning and I lay down some fresh shavings before they go to bed. I also have a layer of sand on the bottom that gets scooped out and replaced if it gets too wet, which hasn't been a problem yet. My ducklings have only been outside a couple weeks, but it's worked well so far.

4. Bees I'm not entirely sure, but probably another problem I could have. I grow a lot of sunflowers, including a decent amount currently sprouting around the duck pen, so I'm mostly hoping that everything just kind of gets along. Maybe a bit naive on my part, but I'm really not trying to chase off any bees unless I absolutely have to.

5. Link didn't load for me, but I've had my ducklings on Purina Duck Pellets since I've had them basically. I was going to try for something that had a bit lower protein than 19% per Dave Holderread's advice, but I wasn't terribly pleased with my options, and from what I gather on here a lot of people give their ducks higher protein feed throughout their entire lives anyways. Until I find something more satisfactory, which seems unlikely, mine will continue on the Purina pellets.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Many here use Purina duck pellets and say its good feed. What I do is keep deep pine shavings on the floors of my coops in winter probably 8" in the summer half of that. I scoop out wet bedding daily and add more shavings as needed. My ducks make their nest in the bedding for laying too.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I use Purina Duck from Tractor Supply. It has worked well for me (chicken layer did not).
My last dog used to sneak the duck food and then throw up. I built a fence to keep him out.
I have not had trouble with snakes or bees in the last five years. I have had trouble with mice and rats which could attract snakes. I use a grandpa’s feeder (Amazon) now. It might stop your dog problem too.
I keep and clean my coop similar to Miss Lydia. Old pine shavings do well in the garden after the ducks.