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I.R.D.A.
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Unlike the Calls ducks—Kwakers and Zwergenten—the Indische Loopeend (walking ducks) were judged as one breed. There were 125 entries, the same number as most years at Cornwall show, making them a much lower percentage of the show entry than in the UK (7.5%, compared with 20% at Cornwall).
Judging on the continent is different from the UK. These birds were penned by early Wednesday morning for the four day show, so the judges had all day, without exhibitors and visitors to interrupt them, to fill in a comment card and grade the birds as follows: U Excellent; F Beautiful; ZG Very Good; G good; V Sufficient; M moderate; O Insufficient. The good thing about this system is that if all the birds in a class are good, all breeders get credit; also if the birds are a poor lot, the judge can say so. All U and F birds were also graded 1,2,3 etc. if there were several; so the best birds were placed with respect to each other. The problem with this judging system is that it is expensive. The judges are paid, and the birds have to be looked after at the show for 4-5 days, quite an ordeal for them, and the people looking after them! Kenneth Broekman (Show Secretary) was very grateful for the help of officials such Annalise Reiling, and Anke Kurtz in the day-to-day running of the show. Penning for the birds was good. The pens were larger than the usual UK ones—more floor space and greater height for the Runners. Thick straw bedding was topped with shavings as well to keep the birds clean. A large dish was kept well filled up with water and mixed grains throughout the show, and birds were certainly well looked after.
Entries of Indische Loopeend / Laufente were as follows: Judge: Boudewijn Goddeeris Most of the entries were G and ZG, with top awards of F and U going to Mullers’ Meeskleur drake, Anke Kurtz’ Erbsgelb, Opper’s Trout, Hoepp’s Black, Bex Blue, and Van den Bunder’s Chocolate. Figs 1 & 2 Meeskleur Runner from Holland, named as the colour of the Meeskleur Call. These are slightly different from the German Silver-wildcolour (Fig 3) which was shown in another class. Body markings on the Meeskleur duck were less well defined than in the German ducks, but they seem to be the same colour genotype. Fig 3 shows the back markings on a German Silber-wildfarbig duck, and the clearly defined fawn hood. The colour is like the Streicher (Abacot Ranger). These birds are much more attractively marked that some of the Silver-wildcolour runners in the UK at present. Many of the UK ducks have an almost white head and neck, which is not what the German breeders seem to be aiming for. However, there is still some variability in the German and Dutch stock. Fig 3
Fig 4: Anke Kurtz’ Erbsgelb duck, beautifully marked on the head. More about the Erbsgelb and Blau-gelb ducks in a future issue.
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Secretary and General Enquiries: Chris Ashton
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German Trout duck showing the typical Continental Runner
type: a shorter tail, ending higher off the ground than UK
birds, and long shanks and thighs, raising the bird higher off the ground as
well. 
