Indian Runner Duck: The Duck That Stands Up

The Indian Runner is the duck that stands up. Tall, thin and bottle-shaped, it walks instead of waddling, forages harder than any other breed, lays a great many eggs, and has been herded across rice paddies for hundreds of years.

The Livestock Conservancy says high egg production and a unique appearance made Runners widely popular once they reached Britain. The upright stance makes a flock of them look like a row of wine bottles on the move, and their ancestors were herded for centuries to forage in rice paddies; the Conservancy calls the Runner the most active forager of all breeds.

Indian Runner at a glance

Metzer lists Runners by colour variety — Black and Fawn & White among them — with temperament from 3.5 for the Black to 7.5 for the Fawn & White and bluish eggs from 35% to 75%, so the figures above span the varieties. The full chart is on the breed comparison tool.

Where the Indian Runner came from

The Livestock Conservancy cites ancient Javan temple carvings as evidence that Runner-type ducks existed in Indochina 2,000 years ago, and describes how for centuries people in India and Indonesia herded flocks of them to forage in rice paddies, the ducks “trained to stay in sight of a herder’s long bamboo pole with cloth strips attached to one end”. That life selected for birds that were, in the Conservancy’s words, good walkers, excellent foragers and prolific layers.

The Conservancy says a ship’s captain brought the breed to the United Kingdom from Malaysia around 1850, where it became widely popular; the British Waterfowl Association dates its first import into Britain to about 1835. In the US, the Conservancy’s breed page says, it was a popular breed with homesteaders in the late 1800s, and when first imported there it was often known as “Penguin Ducks”; Oklahoma State University’s breed register says it was little known in the United States before 1900, and the Conservancy’s own priority list groups the Runner with breeds imported after 1900. It almost disappeared as a breed in Europe by the early 1900s through crossing with other domestic ducks — the BWA says the Runner contributed to the ancestry of nearly all the light duck breeds, and the Conservancy’s account of the Khaki Campbell begins with Fawn and White Runners crossed with a Rouen — and the BWA credits the purists who championed the breed with its survival. The Conservancy now lists it as Recovering, and eight colour varieties are recognised in the American Standard of Perfection.

What an Indian Runner looks like

The body is long and narrow and typically carried at 45 to 75 degrees above the horizontal — some Runners stand fully upright when agitated, the Conservancy says, and it repeats the description of a “wine bottle (or bowling pin) with a head and legs”. The neck is long, the head is slender with the eyes set high, and the bird moves at a walk or a run rather than the side-to-side waddle of a heavier duck: eXtension says Runners “run rather than waddle”. The colours recognised in the American Standard are Fawn & White, White, Penciled, Black, Buff, Chocolate, Cumberland Blue and Gray, and whatever the colour, the Conservancy says, they have pink skin; the British Waterfowl Association counts fourteen standard colours in the UK, among them Fawn, Mallard and Trout. Drakes grow the curled tail feather (Metzer Farms); male vs female ducks has the rest.

A Runner cannot fly: Metzer rates its flight as none, and eXtension says Runner ducks cannot fly. The British Waterfowl Association puts it more cautiously — not much given to flying.

Eggs

Runners are kept for eggs — the University of Kentucky says the Runner is often referred to as the Leghorn of the duck family — but the figures vary by source. Metzer’s chart gives 100–180 a year across the colour varieties, the lower figure without artificial light and the upper with 17 hours of light through lay; the Conservancy says good strains lay over 250 white, hen-sized eggs. The eggs are on the small side for a duck at 65–80 g, and Metzer gives 35% to 75% of them as bluish, depending on the variety. Mothering is another matter: Metzer rates it poor to fair, and the Conservancy says Runners rarely go broody. Use an incubator, or a broody of another breed, and the hatch date calculator for the Runner’s slightly longer term — Metzer’s own pages give 28.5 days on one and 29 on the other, while the Cornell Duck Research Laboratory gives a single figure, 28 days, for common ducks such as Pekins.

Temperament and noise

Docile and active, and able to be high-strung, is the Conservancy’s summary, and Metzer’s scores spread widely by colour: 3.5 for Black Runners and 7.5 for Fawn & White, on a scale where 1.0 is very calm and 9.0 more nervous. The University of Kentucky says Runners and Campbells “tend to be nervous and flighty”. A Runner does not stand still to be admired; it is off across the garden after something, and trained Runners are often used at herding competitions, the Conservancy notes — eXtension says herders tend to choose more highly strung breeds such as Runners or Campbells, because the dogs can move them with less force. The Conservancy says they need work from the time they are ducklings if you want them to be comfortable with people, and that they can easily panic at any real or perceived danger.

The Conservancy says the ducks are generally louder than drakes and make a distinctive quack sound, and that Runners will be vocal if they are not given a large space. The University of Kentucky says only the females quack; the drakes are limited to a hoarse whisper.

Keeping Indian Runners

The sources differ on room. The Livestock Conservancy says that although Runners can be kept in a run, they prefer a large space; the University of Kentucky says they are good foragers but also do well in confinement when a good layer ration is provided. Given ground, they work it: Kentucky says they will eat worms and slugs, and the British Waterfowl Association says they are used on organic farms and vineyards for pest control and that, content in a large flock and not much given to flying, they are easy to manage. The space calculator gives the RSPCA welfare minimum alongside the recommended figures; give a Runner well over it.

Feed is covered in what to feed ducks, including niacin, which matters while ducklings grow — Metzer Farms says that once they are grown, a niacin deficiency is very rare. The University of Kentucky says Runners eat less feed than meat ducks because of their small size, and eXtension says a laying duck’s intake varies with the level of production and how much there is to forage, which the feed calculator notes. Kentucky also advises confining Runners kept for eggs overnight, to make egg collection easier. The duck house guide and duck predators cover the rest.

Is the Indian Runner right for you?

Yes, if you have space, want eggs and slug control, and enjoy a duck with character rather than a duck that sits still. It is hardy — the Conservancy says it does well in both cold and hot climates — and, by the University of Kentucky’s account, eats less feed than meat ducks because of its small size. Choose something else if you have a small run, want a calm bird that comes to be stroked, or want a duck that hatches its own young — for calm, Metzer’s lowest temperament scores include the Muscovy, Silver Appleyard and Welsh Harlequin; for mothering, Metzer rates the Muscovy excellent. The beginner’s guide to duck breeds compares them, and the breed quiz is a lighter way to the same answer.