ghost429

sorry you're having a hard time. are you extremely rural? we get coyotes too, but it seems like there are enough houses with dogs around (including mine) that it keeps them at bay. i have chickens and ducks and i actually don't lock them up at night, just youngin's. the ducks stay safe because they live on a large pond. they sleep right on the edge so if they are threatened they just go right in the water. that keeps them safe from land-based predators. my chickens put themselves to bed each night inside the barn, but i think i have a special situation that works for me - my cabin is attached to my barn. so unlike many farming situations, the farmer here (me) is very close to where the animals live. believe it or not i have a shepherd-coyote who is an expert at livestock guarding. keeps vigil all night. he's amazing. then when it's quiet outside he'll come inside and hunt mice!! love him. ducks love him too. i think a huge part of it is having the right dogs. about duck egg nutrition, one huge difference about duck eggs vs. chicken eggs--besides the extra vitamin D, is that duck eggs are alkaline-forming for your pH. unlike acid-forming chicken eggs. that makes them one of the only animal products you'll ever hear about that is actually alkaline and not acid. not sure if you keep up on the acid/alkaline ph balance diet, but if you are more alkaline you won't get disease. if you have disease you need to bring your body back into balance. so people who are sick and need a lot of nutrition, like eggs, are better off eating duck eggs, not just because they are higher in everything nutrition wise, but because they will help you stay alkaline ! as you can see, i have a lot of praises to sing about ducks.

p.s. i have two piggies now, too. if you are on facebook, join my page about the ducks, you can see what kinds we have and learn more about them.. http://www.facebook.com/countryducks