Re-introducing ducklings and goslings at 2 weeks old?

[raindrop]

Well, when you all say that waterfowl grow fast you aren't kidding!!

My 5 ducklings (I lost one, it never really started eating and although I tempted it with starter mash, scrambled egg, grub/wormy things I found in the grass that the other ducklings went crazy for, it never ate much at all) and 2 goslings are now 6 days old. They are already 2-3 times they were when I got them. Wow.

I just put the goslings in one giant Rubbermaid, the duckings are in the other. My modified brooding plan is to move them into the garage into a kiddie pool surrounded by chicken wire next weekend where they will live for 2 weeks, then out to their electric net fencing enclosure with heat lamp after that. As soon as they are old enough to take care of themselves during the day, they can free range.

Will they still get along if they are brooded separately for the next 5-6 days? The goslings don't seem to care that the ducks are gone, the ducks peeped a little for 10-15 minutes or so, but some fresh greens helped distract them and now they are asleep.

I ask because Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks says not to brood them with geese, but doesn't go into details. The Book of Geese doesn't say anything about brooding with ducklings.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Well, I'm totally new at this but our ducks and geese seem to be almost the same age. I would think they would be OK to re-introduce as long as you keep checking on them the fist few days to make sure the geese don't pick on them. Mine are brooding together and I'm not sure the geese know they are geese. I put them in separate "pools" this afternoon and while the ducks could care less that they were by swimming by themselves, the geese wouldn't stop until they were in the same pool as the ducks.

My goslings, like yours, are HUGE compared to my little runner ducks. But they don't bother them.

Don't know if I was helpful or not?

Good luck!