Indian Runner Help Line

Because of the demand, we are sorry that we can normally deal directly with enquiries only from members of the Indian Runner Duck Association.

Help!
QUESTION: I got your e mail from Indian Runner Helpline, can you assist please. We have a runner drake, a runner female and 2 Khaki Campbells in our garden. Have had them for about 2 years and they are pets. Over the last 2 months the drake keeps "servicing " the white female runner about every hour!!!! and does not touch the Campbells. The female is now suffering, does not run with the others, back of the neck is red and she is becoming more and more withdrawn and does not look well. Is there anyway I can keep the drake off her, beside penning etc which would be a problem re pond etc?

You must separate the white female from the offending drake. Females can die through damage to the oviduct from this behaviour when they are in lay - as she probably is. Do the KCs lay?? Check if the female is eating - birds which fail to eat often have a bacterial infection which needs an antibiotic from the vet. If she eats and drinks - no need to worry.
[PS The duck recovered well after she had been separated from the drake.]

QUESTION: Hi, a friend of mine has just presented me with 2 hard boiled runner duck eggs, the white seems normal but the yolk is mostly yellow with a thin layer approx 1mm thick that looks like a layer of raspberry ripple. Would be grateful for any ideas as to what this could be. Thanks, Richard M

Sorry -don't know. Blood specks sometimes appear in eggs - but not whole layers.
PS I do wonder if the egg had been incubated for a few days (perhaps by the duck|) - before boiling?

QUESTION: Are Indian Runners a protected species? There are some in our subdivision lake lot, and our neighbours want them removed. You can't catch them because they run away, and we don't want them harmed. Can you stop them laying eggs? I think that is one of their gripes. Marc

We get we get a lot of letters from the USA regarding birds which have been 'dumped' on city lakes. The park authorities sometimes want to cull them. The Runner is not a protected species. Runners are domesticated ducks which have been developed from the wild mallard. So the Runner is the same species as the mallard, even though they look very different. The best solution is to catch all the Runners by making a large corral - when you have arranged a home for them to go to. You cannot stop the females laying eggs - they have been bred to be good layers! The life span of the females is less than that of the males. This is because of laying eggs. Also if the male population is too high, the females will suffer. You could re-home the females to someone who would like the birds and the eggs - and leave the males on the lake if just the eggs are the problem.

QUESTION: I'm sorry to bother you with this question I'm looking for Runner or Call ducks for herding purposes - but I'm in the USA. Are there any breeders this way?

Calls are no good for herding - the poor little souls could not move fast enough, their legs are too short. If ducks are used, they are usually Indian Runners or Campbells. Heavy ducks are no good either.
Don't use females. They have to lay eggs and should not be put under stress. Drakes ( males) are fine but, if they are Runners, they should not be the tall, slim exhibition type. Something a bit more robust should be used. There must be lots of Runners in the USA. Look up the website feathersite and Metzer game farm.

QUESTION: We're not members of your association yet (we live in Maryland USA). But please consider returning a word on the following question...we'd VERY MUCH appreciate it. Neighbors gave us 2 Indian Runner chicks--the hen and "Dad" are pure bred from a breeder. Both are about 5 weeks old now, and appear happy/health except that their legs tremble badly when standing still. We've read books that indicate a lack of nutrients could be the trouble. Other facts:
Primary feed is granular "poultry starter"
We've also given crickets and earth worms (they love them)...as well as some boiled chicken eggs and wheat bread
They've had little sun due to time of year. Most time is spent in a small pen with a heat lamp and cedar chip floor (in draft-free barn). Pen is kept clean, but ducks manage to get damp from poop and water spills anyway. They stay clean and dry for the most part though.
We tried putting 100mg Niacin (crushed from capsules for humans) into 1 gallon of water each day--no change

If there's a short answer, or if you can give ANY advise--we'd very much appreciate hearing from you. K & C

I wonder if the birds are still on poultry starter? If they are, then it could be too high in protein. By 5 weeks of age, the protein content should be 16% in grower pellets (used in the UK ). I appreciate that the ducklings were given to you and the hatching time was therefore beyond your control. Advice to others is that hatching of waterfowl (unless for commercial purposes) should be done in spring. Then the birds can get out and exercise. Lack of exercise is probably the other cause of the wobbly legs–and possibly lack of sunlight. Exercise is especially important for Runners because of their carriage and thigh length.

Do check the underside of the Runners’ feet to see if they are cracked and sore. We use whitewood shavings for bedding in the UK – how rough is the cedar?
In the circumstances, the ducks are getting a good diet (though check the protein) but I think that exercise outdoors is the only way to really resolve this problem. Best of luck
PS I wonder if they still need a heat lamp? What is the temperature underneath it?

QUESTION: I am thinking about buying a pair of Indian runners. But I would like to know a thing or two about them first. I have two white Campbell females - will the runner ducks get on with them when they are both out in the garden? Also are Runner ducks noisy because I have neighbours close by. R.

Runner ducks are no more noisy than Campbells. Of course it is the females who are the noisy ones because of the quack. But compared with Call ducks, they are quiet.
A pair of Runners means male and a female. If your females are not used to a drake then they may get a bit of a culture shock as they are not used to being mated. But a ratio of three females to one male is good. Don’t get more than one male.

QUESTION: We are interested in acquiring some Runner ducks, but also first need some information about their habits and requirements, to make sure we can make them happy. If you could point us towards some good information, we'd be grateful. (eg a question -- do we need a drake? We already have six chickens, but are still novice poultry-keepers).G & R

No, you do not need a drake, but most Runners will be sold in pairs (a duck and a drake). If you want just females in ducks then they have to be purchased from a commercial hatchery where the males are culled at day old. Khaki Campbells and white commercial ducks can be purchased in this way, but pure breeds are produced mostly by hobby keepers who are not prepared to cull large numbers of healthy drakes.

Why not start off with a pair of Runners and get more ducks if they are available? As with the poultry, it’s best not to keep many males with the females. Runner breeders tend to keep the birds in small groups (pairs, trios) and do not run a lot of drakes with females.

If you look at www.waterfowl.org.uk you will find a books page and management pages in Articles of interest. There are also management pages on this Runner website

I'm noticing some of my Runners aged 8 to 10 weeks old have started to walk bent forward from the base of the neck. I'd started them on chick starter as I couldn't get any waterfowl feed locally. After they got a bit older, the only feed I could get was broiler starter or laying crumbles. After feeding the broiler and laying feed, is when I started noticing the problem. They appear healthy otherwise, no unusual droppings, eating and drinking well, etc.--just the odd stance. The older ones and the youngest ones of this group of 19 show no symptoms. Just the 11 of the middle age. I'm sure it was caused by the feed as there are no signs of illness. Is there anything I can do other than putting them down? Thanks.

It’s a strange one and without seeing the birds very difficult to offer advice.

Given the age and the feed that they are eating, I think the problem is too much protein and not enough exercise. We have had something like it in the past when I have kept birds in a large shed a little longer than usual and also kept them on high protein feed too long as well. The problem is that they grow too quickly and become too heavy for the under-developed leg muscles. They stand with the body almost erect but seem to lean a little forward and have the neck right out in front as a sort of counter balance. This condition often goes hand in hand with a lot of sitting around, they give up on walking unless they have to and often sit up or walking on their hocks. This just makes matters worse. Another sign can be leg tremors. While standing still one or both legs shake rapidly, but they don’t wobble while they are running along.

I wouldn’t put them down yet, just in case it is just too much high protein food and very rapid growth. Try reducing the amount of protein in the diet by mixing your feed with 40% of your laying feed to 60% of whole wheat. This will bring down the protein level to a more reasonable level. (15% duckling growers feed is still too high so broiler or layers will at 17 to 19% will be way over).

Keep the bedding in the houses as dry as possible and try and get them to exercise by giving them as much room as you can and out feed and water pots at opposite ends of the run – to make them work. Don’t chase them about in order to get them moving as this can make things worse and they may go off their legs completely.

There is every possibility that in a month or so they will have got over this and the leg muscles will be strong enough to support them properly.

Also - This sounds like a vitamin deficiency. Have you tried adding brewers' yeast powder to the dry food? This helps with the B vitamins, which contribute to the healthy development of the duckling. They need vitamin D from sunlight (which is a classic preventer of rickets in humans) and 'greens' for K. All of these vitamins might be missing from birds kept indoors too long.

(ii) Hello. I am in search of information on the brown & white or fawn Runners, whichever. I had some Pekins & they bred with the Runners for a quite unique looking cross. These guys are now breeding & having babies. But.... my questions are: what is the life span of these ducks? And what is the disease they get that causes them to wobble & use their wings for balance, then go off their feed then just plain die?? It seems all my ducks have done this. This is not at once but spaced out over the years. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Ducks, especially cross breeds, should have a life span of 8-10 years. If they are kept on the same ground for many years, at a high stocking density, there will be a build up of disease and parasites. It sounds as if your ducks may be suffering from one of the following conditions. All ducks which are ill and losing condition will struggle to get about.
Does staggering about then death happen rapidly?
Do the birds get thin, or die when they are heavy?
Does it happen at a certain time of Year? Or age of duck?
Possibilities
1. Coccidiosis. Coccidia are organisms which live in the gut, and attack the lining so the bird cannot digest its food. Birds become thin and die. Clean ground is needed.
2. Pasteurella (a bacterium) lives in the environment anyway. Healthy birds have a natural immunity but succumb to the disease if they get run down. Green droppings around the vent are typical. Most affected birds die. You have to treat with antibiotic from the vet to save them. Only the odd bird might be affected.
3 Enteritis (bacterial). Pinkish droppings. Responds to antibiotic from the vet. Usually seasonal in hot weather. Untreated, several birds may die.
4. Have you had the birds tested for avian TB?
5. Have the birds been wormed with Flubenvet? There are various internal parasites which are killed by this vermifuge. See the page on worming ducks.
6. What are you feeding them on? Make sure the food is never mouldy - moulds cause internal diseases such as aspergillosis. Also check manufactured food is in date.
7. Birds may suffer from listeria. The pathology lab has never been able to prove this for me, but it seems possible. Birds do lose coordination. Treated with antibiotic from the vet , some survive, but are never quite the same again. Rare.
8. Sunstroke causes Pekins to die. They lose their appetite and stagger around. They are more susceptible to this than other breeds (This is German Pekins - the upright type).
9. Newcastle disease. Respiratory problems, diarrhoea and high mortality. Rarely found in the UK. A notifiable disease.
10. Botulism occurs in rotting vegetation/carcases/general waste in hot weather.

11. Leg infections cause ducks to stagger about. Joints become swollen due to staphylococci infection. Affected birds can become thin because they are not getting enough food and can succumb to something else. Antibiotic injections from the vet are needed.
12. Duck plague - duck viral enteritis. Losses can be high. If you have this, the birds need inoculation. Contact www.intervet.com on the web. Also use duck viral enteritis on Google search engine for further information.

This may seem a long list, but ducks kept in good conditions are relatively trouble free. I would suggest that the next duck which dies should be taken to your vet for a post mortem and specimens sent to the pathology lab if necessary. Dave Holderread's Raising Ducks 1-58017-258-X and Chris &Mike Ashton's The Domestic Duck 1 86126 271 X both have a chapter on how to avoid problems, and symptoms of diseases,

Really there is no need to clip the wings of pure-breed Runners. They cannot fly more than a hop, skip and a flutter. Do not bother.

With other ducks, like Calls, Bantams and some Light Ducks, you must wait until the feathers have stopped growing and the quills are empty of blood. Even then only cut the solid stem (rachis) not the hollow calamus, otherwise you let dirt and possible infections into the feather stubs. We snip four or five primary feathers on one side only, and cut level with the tips of the primary covert feathers.

(iv) We have a barn that is 50 feet by 30 feet approximately. It was originally a guinea hen barn. It was built very solidly in the '50's. The floor is cement. In one corner is a small chicken pen which is now home to our 12 Runners. I covered the cement with about 6" of sand, then put salt marsh hay on top of that. I cut the bottom off some plastic barrels & put those in there & built it up with straw so the waterer could sit on top & the excess that spilled out would be caught in the barrel bottom. We turn the straw or add new daily. Since they were just born April 24 it's working out all right up to now but they need more room & very soon.

This is a similar idea to rearing the ducks on mesh - but the mesh is less work, I think, once it is set up. However, I only use the wire floor up to 4 weeks maximum.

We're designing an indoor pen that is 10 feet by 13 feet with an opening that will go into a yard pen which will be 38 feet by 30 feet. The outside pen has a gentle slope so spilled water won't be a problem. We're wondering about water in the inside though. These little guys go through a LOT of water & we find ourselves replenishing their 1 gallon containers (of which they have 2) every couple of hours. We are trying to keep their pen as clean as possible with no mouldy straw etc. Since we're just building the new pen, do you have any suggestions about ways to water so they have some at all times & what to do about the spill?

This sounds a very good system for the birds when they are 4 weeks plus. However, they do not need food and water overnight - they are making a lot of work for you! Feed and water the birds in the sloping yard during the day, with the water furthest from the night time bedding. This way the bedding stays dry. If they are out and about feeding and drinking from 08.00 to 20.00 hours, this is fine. Ours are shut up from 17.00 hours in the middle of the UK winter. You might find that white wood shavings or coarse white wood sawdust works better than straw for bedding (very absorbent, and less mould). Make sure that the sawdust/shavings are from un-treated white wood (no toxic substances).

(v) Sometimes we have to be gone for a few days & have a neighbour come over to take care of things but they can't come every couple of hours. We just purchased a 7 gallon waterer but it doesn't work. The water just slowly drains out by itself with no one drinking from it at all. Any information you could offer would be appreciated.

For further information on the use of veterinary medicines please contact your Vet or visit the website of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate www.vmd.gov.uk who are the regulatory authority for veterinary medicines in the UK.