Duckling size/age and integration?

[tweetysvoice]

Because I'm new to ducks and have a husband that insisted on getting a couple more new ducks tonight, we now have four ducklings. Two of them are Pekings and are about 2 weeks old. The newest two (one a black runner and one a Rouen) are just about 4 days old. The Pekings are twice the size of the newbies so we set up a separate brooder for the time being. How much of a difference in age is too much to integrate the four ducks together? I'd love to keep the four of them together in the super-sized dog kennel for this next month.

Here are pics, cuz I know ya'll love pics
This is Daffy:

This is Goose: (We couldn't think of a name for him/her and my DH said: "Well, we have a duck, duck, duck, goose" so that's how she got her name..hehe)


And Quackers and Ducky:

 

[tweetysvoice]

okay, so reading more threads.. maybe Daffy isn't a runner (it was a mixed bin).. maybe he/she is a Cayuga...

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

Cute Cute!!! I would keep the newbies in a seperate brooder for the next week, to allow them to gain a bit more size (they grow fast). After that you should be able to put them all together as long as they have enough room to spread out and there is a place for the smaller ones to have a heat source. We hatched some ducks a few weeks apart and they did fine with this method. We had 8 ducklings total on an 8x8 pen with a brooder lamp suspended over the center. The youngsters stayed under the light, while the older ones ventured out around the box. Now they are running together with no problems

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

And PS: you are right about Daffy, def. a cayuga. They are some of my favorites. Those and East Indies.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Thanks, this was my general feeling as well just based on the growth of the first two over this past week. Yes, they will have plenty of room. The kennel is 5ftx3ft and right now the older two want nothing to do with the heat lamp, although I'm keeping it in there just in case. I think they could care less that it's there. It's cute cuz the two sets can see each other from across the room and they keep chirping and staring at each other. Goose (baby rouen) escaped before I could finish adding the cardboard boarder around the kennel (the 5 minutes I went upstairs, or course) and I found her trying to get in with the bigger ones, so I know they aren't scared of each other. LOL.

 

[tweetysvoice]

And PS: you are right about Daffy, def. a cayuga. They are some of my favorites. Those and East Indies.

Yay, thanks!! After reading up about them, I'm glad!! They seem much more friendlier than runners. Especially for my suburban backyard!

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

Oh they are so so social! We have 10 different breeds. We had a single black swedish that hatched out a few weeks ago and she went CRAZY when she got old enough to go with the others. They had lots of long talks and swims together

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

My cayugas are by far the sweetest and quietest. They hardly make a sound and always come up to us. My son can pick them right up and they love it. My runners just want to run... I guess their name is appropriate!

 

[kara_leigh]

When I got my ducks two weeks ago, two of them were 3 days old, one was 3 weeks, and one was 4 weeks. I just put them all together right away and they did perfectly fine. The 4 week old was MASSIVE next to the babies, also. They have never been trampled or anything, and they are all bonded to each other now. They didn't fight or anything either. They just acted like they had been together all along. They came from the same place and had the same parents, so I wasn't worried about diseases or anything. I also keep them in an xl wire dog crate, and they do really well in it.