Female duck won't come out of duck house - help!

[Dees ducks]

Hi all BYC!
I have 8 ducks in total. 3 mature females, one aged 2 years and two aged 6-10 months and 5 Cayuga ducklings which I hatched 7 weeks ago.
My female Buff Orpington (6-10 months old) this morning didn't want to leave the house and go out with the others. She's in her box just nesting but otherwise seems ok.
This is so out of character for her and even mealworms and peas couldn't entice her out.
Out of the 3 mature females I'm not entirely sure if she's even laying yet as I get two eggs per day, one from the 2 year old and one from either of the other two.
Can she go broody without a mature male present?
Should I do anything as she doesn't seem to be interested in food?
Any advice would be really appreciated.
Just to mention, the mature ducks and the Cayuga ducklings are all together during the day but have separate sleeping areas at night for the moment.
Also, I know at least one of the Cayuga ducklings is a male as has very pronounced tail feathers but as I said they are only 7 weeks old.
Thanks

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if she may have gone broody.

 

[PirateGirl]

She may be broody or she may not be feeling well. It’s hard to say at this point and you should definitely watch her. Has she been ok interacting with the new ducklings so far? Is it possible she is just avoiding them for a bit? If you do not want a possible broody destroy the nest and send her outside. See how she acts once she is out and about. When my ducks get hormonal they tend to walk around with their neck scrunched up and honk a lot, their neck feathers will be bristled too. They just appear angry all the time. They seem to get particularly upset when I collect eggs and destroy nests. Maybe try bringing her to her swimming area. If she is outside and isolating herself or unable to walk or acting lethargic I would be concerned something else is going on other than hormones. Let us know how the day goes. If you suspect she may be ill, isolate her in a box or dog crate where you can observe her droppings, behavior, and whether or not she is eating.

 

[Dees ducks]

thanks for your reply. The ducks have all been outside together for 3 weeks. Guertrude (the Buff Orpington) before the ducklings came along was the alpha female. When I introduced the ducklings she made a few half hearted attempts to peck at them but nothing malicious and no harm was done. After a week she calmed down considerably and even became much quieter. For the past two weeks all ducks getting on very well together but I just didn't feel 100% confident putting them all together during the night. This behavior today is so out of character. The problem I have is that I don't even know if she the one who has started laying or not!

 

[PirateGirl]

Maybe she is cooking up her first egg and will come out and be her normal self once she lays. If she if she is young and has never laid before, I wouldn’t really expect her to be broody.

 

[chickens really]

I'm thinking she is laying an egg...

 

[Dees ducks]

Hi All, sorry for the absence from this topic for a while. Well my Buff Orpington is definitely broody and now the Aylesbury has gone broody too!!!!
The Aylesbury is still laying, however, the Buff has stopped completely.This has been going on now for 3 weeks!
Everyday i gently hustle them outside (with much ruffling of feathers, hissing and snapping) and then I block the entrance to their house until early evening.
Although the Buff has been eating and drinking she has lost a fair bit of weight which worries me some.
Everyday after about 1 hour of being outside she then waits by the door to be let back into the house, however, for the hour that she is outside she acts and socializes normally.
Im worried about her weight and health if this carries on much longer.
To make matters worse, she had only just actually started laying about 3 weeks and theres no mature male around either.
any advice would be appreciated as (dont tell the others) but she is my favourite!!!

 

[chickens really]

Destroy the nest area if not hatching anything. Definitely lock them out for a couple of days.