Standards
Indian Runner Duck Standards 2008
These standards are from the British Waterfowl Association Indian
Runner Standards Review which took place between February and May
2006. The BWA Standards Committee was led by senior representatives
from the IRDA.
The Standards are now published and available for the British
Waterfowl Association www.waterfowl.org.uk
or contact runnerdux@yahoo.co.uk
Indian Runner
Classification: Indian Runner
Origin: East Indies
There are reports of ‘Penguin’ ducks being imported into Britain as
early as 1835. These ducks brought with them brown dilution and also
dusky mallard genes, as well as their upright stance and prolific
egg-laying capability, as witnessed by Alfred Wallace in Malaya.
The term ‘India Runner’ was largely coined by John Donald in about
1890, when he described similar birds imported also some time in the
1830s. These included all-fawns, whites and pied pattern ducks, the
latter being the basis of the Poultry Club Standard publication of
1901. The Indian Runner Duck Club’s Standard of 1907 described only
the Fawn-&-white; that of 1913 recognized also the White and the
whole Fawn.
In spite of the writings of Darwin and Wallace, most British
enthusiasts had taken the term ‘Indian’ literally. However, fresh
importations from Lombok and Java by Joseph Walton, beginning in
1909, rejuvenated the bloodlines, most of which had become
contaminated by ad lib cross-breeding with British ducks. This also
returned the more extreme upright carriage of the Malayan birds as
well as the all-fawn coloured plumage that had become virtually
extinct in Britain. The development was helped by more importations
in the 1920s.
Black Runners were developed from an early white import that also
had a certain amount of black in its plumage. Crossed with a Black
East Indian, it allowed the development of both Black and Chocolate
Runners standardized by the Poultry Club in 1930 and the later
Cumberland Blue Indian Runner, all three of which have extended
black genes.
Trout Runners were the next to be standardized. They have mallard
(M+) genes instead of the more common dusky mallard (md). When
heterozygous for blue dilution (Bl/bl+), Trouts become Blue Trouts.
When homozygous for blue (Bl/Bl) they are Apricot Trouts (Blau-gelb
in German). A similar use of blue dilution turns the Fawn-&-white
(Pencilled) into the American Fawn-&-white.
Colour genotypes:
Mallard Wild colour (+).
Trout Wild colour except for light phase (li/li).
Blue Trout Wild colour except for light phase (li/li); heterozygous
for blue dilution (Bl/bl+).
Apricot Trout Wild colour except for light phase (li/li); homozygous
for blue dilution (Bl/Bl).
Fawn Wild colour except for light phase (li/li), dusky mallard (md /
md) and sex-linked brown dilution (d/(d)).
Black Extended black (E/E).
Chocolate Extended black (E/E), brown dilution(d/(d)).
Cumberland Blue Extended black (E/E), heterozygous for blue dilution
(Bl/bl+).
Fawn&white Wild colour (including dark phase Li+/Li+), except for
dusky mallard (md / md), the pied Runner gene (R/R) and the brown
dilution (d/(d)).
American fawn&white Wild colour (including dark phase Li+/Li+),
except for dusky mallard (md / md), the pied Runner gene (R/R),
homozygous blue dilution (Bl/Bl) and the brown dilution (d/(d)).
White Epistatic, recessive white (c/c) gene.
Silver Wild colour except for harlequin phase (lih/lih) and dusky
mallard (md / md).
Shape: male and female
Carriage: Upright, active, nearly perpendicular when at attention,
excited or trained for the show pen. When not alarmed, or when on
the move, the body may be inclined between 50-80 degrees above the
horizontal. The proper carriage creates a straight line from the
back of the head to the tip of the tail. Total length (fully
extended in a straight line, measured from bill tip to middle toe
tips): drake 65-80 cm and duck 60-70 cm.
