When can my ducklings move in with my ducks?

[LilDucky85]

have 7 Pekin ducks that are 12 weeks old, and one Mallard duckling that will be 4 weeks old on Saturday. When can I put them together? I have a new duck coop that the ducks will go in this weekend. Monday I'm leaving on vacation so my sister will be watching my ducks. Should I leave the baby separated until I get back in two weeks, or put them all together in the coop? I wont be here to monitor them so I'm not sure what to do. My Pekins were my first hatch, and first time owning poultry, and the Mallards were my second hatch so I'm not sure how to merge different hatches. The Mallards 2 siblings died last week so its been alone ever since. The duckling is doing very well alone, but terrified of me. Would duck interaction be good, or can they possibly kill the baby?

 

[rainplace]

Just today my 4 week old ducks beat the crud out of my 2 week old duckling and gosling.

This was after spending the entire day with the younger ones inside a pen that sat inside the bigger pen with the older ducks.

 

[LilDucky85]

Oh no! Thats terrible.

Ok, I'll keep them apart for sure!

 

[rainplace]

I'm new to poultry also, so I may not be the best person to answer, but I've had success putting one of the older ducks in with the little ones. I chose the most laid back one out of the bunch.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

If it were me, I would wait until I was around to monitor, just in case...

 

[LilDucky85]

Ill wait until I come back from vacation. By then the duckling will have grow more. I just dont want more work for my sister than she will already have with the other 7. She knows nothing about ducks but the least she can do is feed them and give them water.

Do you think its ok to move the duckling into the garage? I moved them out there at one week old but after a week 2 died. I brought the one survivor back inside. When can I remove the heat lamp?

 

[Wifezilla]

I spent 2 weeks slowly introducing my ducklings to the big kids.

 

[mk67026]

I wait until my ducklings are more or less fully feathered (6-8 weeks old), and even then I'm wary. The older birds tend to get really nasty towards the "intruders" and will harass, bite, flog and chase them around. If you try and put fuzzy babies in with them, they'll be ripped apart for sure. By waiting until they're bigger, they stand a chance- at least they can run fast enough to get away if they're attacked.

 

[rlhbond]

$0.02 - Like everyone else, I'd wait until you are back from vacation. Even then, I'd make sure that you were there to supervise.

 

[streemers]

i put my ducklings in with my 8 older ducks when they where 4 weeks and i just supervised them as they harrassed my ducklings. after a few hrs they just stayed away from each other and now they are all friends