Duck broodiness?

[chicknmania]

Oh, dear, I'm so sad....I recently posted about DW, our little duck. She has dissapeared. I am so hoping that maybe she has just gone broody and is hiding somewhere. Even though it is still cold, our hens have started laying a lot more and our peacocks definitely think it's spring. DW just dissapeared, no signs of a struggle, no paranoia by the other flock members (wjhich would indicate a predator has been around), no hawks hanging around in the trees, nothing I have looked everywhere. She just vanished yesterday afternoon. I noticed that a couple of days before that, she was wandering around the barn very late at night...close to midnight, but I still had a few lights on.
Our peahen does that...she will wander around late at night, when the flock has gone to roost, shortly before she becomes broody.
Obviously, she is looking for a good nest site that won't be obvious to anyone else. So I was hoping maybe DW was dong the same thing. But I don't know as I have nothing to compare it to. Are ducks very broody? Or does it depend on the breed? We think she is an East Indies Black duck.
I hope that is what it is and that she will reappear eventually. of course, her eggs will not hatch, as we have no drakes. I miss her very much, every time I went to the barn she would greet me with her quacking, and it's way too quiet now. WE were going to get her some friends and put her on our pond in the spring....

 

[chicknmania]

I have done some research and it seems to be sort of a matter of opinion whether they are an especially broody breed, or not. Some say theirs go broody frequently, and I read others that said they don't. Anyone?

 

[jdywntr]

Well typically east indies are supposed to very good broodies but there is always variation. They do fly also.

Was she laying? It is possible that she hid a nest somewhere so she may show up. Even if she did, you should see her occasionally as she still will need to get off to eat.

 

[chicknmania]

Well, yes, I know that, just like the chickens, of course, she will need to get off the nest, although we have had some broody hens that we did not see for weeks. And she does fly well...back and forth every day from one end of the barn to the other. But would she go broody this early in the cold? Thats what I was trying to figure out. The chickens do not. It's just too cold and dark still. But having not had a duck before, I don't know how early they might go broody. I am sure she would not leave the flock. They are her friends...especially three pullets that we have...and she usually does not leave the barn at all.

 

[chicknmania]

I don't know if she was laying. If she was, she had the nest hidden. She is probably around five or six months old.