If I consolidate my student loans can I differ them if I come under financial hardship like individual loans?

I have 52k in student loans, my wife has another 30k. The first question is should we consolidate them all togeather and 2nd question is what if we have a finacial hardship or some other unforseen event and cant make the payments. Does the William D Ford Federal Direct consolidation loan have deferment options like I do now with all these individual loans? Thank you all for your time.