![]() ![]() The Cumbrian importations, according to Matthew Smith in 1923, included completely fawn Runners and completely white Runners as well as the pied (fawn-and-white and grey-and-white) varieties. Darwin describes them (1868) as having elongated " femur and meta-tarsi", contrary to Tegetmeier's assertions. These may well have been imported by the 13th Earl of Derby. Edward Cross in the Surrey Zoological Gardens between 1837–38. Harrison Weir's Our Poultry (1902) describes the Penguin Ducks belonging to Mr. Other references to such domestic ducks use the names 'Penguin Ducks' and 'Baly Soldiers'. The breed is unusual not only for its high egg production but also for its upright stance and variety of colour genes, some of which are seen in seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. Donald describes the pied variety and gives the popular story of the importation into Cumbria (Northwest England) by a sea captain some fifty years earlier. Donald's publication is advertised briefly in The Feathered World, 1895, under the title of "The Indian Runner Duck". The Runner became popular in Europe and America as an egg-laying variety towards the end of the nineteenth century largely as a result of an undated pamphlet called The India Runner: its History and Description published by John Donald of Wigton between 18. Other misnamed geese and ducks include the African goose, the black East Indian duck and the Muscovy duck. Like many other breeds of waterfowl imported into Europe and America, the term 'Indian' may well be fanciful, denoting a loading port or the transport by 'India-men' sailing ships of the East India Company. Attempts by British breeders at the beginning of the twentieth century to find examples in the subcontinent had very limited success. There is no evidence that they came originally from India itself. The Indian Runner ducks are domesticated waterfowl that live in the archipelago of the East Indies. Compared to big table ducks, they eat less grain and pellet supplements.Ī family of Indian Runner ducks, clearly showing their upright posture Origins of the breed Only females quack and drakes are limited to a hoarse whisper. They appreciate open spaces but are happy in gardens from which they cannot fly and where they make much less noise than call ducks. ![]() They often swim in ponds and streams, but they are likely to be preoccupied foraging in grassy meadows for worms, slugs, even catching flies. It is difficult to determine their sex until they are fully mature. Drakes have a small curl on the tip of their tails, while hens have flat tails. The eggs are often greenish-white in color. The body is long, slim but round in appearance. Indian Runners have long, slender necks that smoothly transition into the body. This effect gives a racy appearance, a breed trait. The head is shallower than what is seen with most other breeds of duck. The bill blends into the head smoothly being as straight as possible from bean to the back of the skull. Indian Runner ducks have a long, wedge-shaped head. This structural feature allows the birds to walk or "quickstep", rather than waddle, as seen with other duck breeds. The erect carriage is a result of a pelvic girdle that is situated more towards the tail region of the bird compared to other breeds of domestic duck. Their height (from crown to tail tip) ranges from 50 cm (20 in) in small females to about 76 cm (30 in) in the taller males. The ducks vary in weight between 1.4 and 2.3 kg (3.1 and 5.1 lb). ![]() Duck-breeders need to house their birds overnight or be vigilant in picking up the eggs to prevent them from being taken by other animals. They run or walk, often dropping their eggs wherever they happen to be. ![]() These ducks do not fly and only rarely form nests and incubate their own eggs. They were bred on the Indonesian islands of Lombok, Java and Bali where they were 'walked' to market and sold as egg-layers or for meat. The females usually lay about 300 to 350 eggs a year or more, depending whether they are from exhibition or utility strains. They stand erect like penguins and, rather than waddling, they run. Indian Runners are a breed of Anas platyrhynchos domesticus, the domestic duck. ![]()
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