Indian Runner Movie

[Rene Seiler]

Slugplagues are of course a symptom of an unbalanced ecosystem in that their natural predators and parasites are not abundant enough to balance the slug population. A balanced ecosystem takes time to establish so slugs can be a big problem in newly created permaculture gardens, especially when mulch is used. I would like to tell you about the fastest most entertaining and resourceful way of getting rid of your slugs.

I no longer have a slug problem, just two very fat ducks that come running when on the odd occasion I find a very unlucky slug. Slugs are their favourite food and so I have gone from having thousands of slugs to virtually none. This transformation happened within just a few days. They will eat as many slugs as you can throw at them and the beauty of it is that they convert slugs to eggs, which feed me, and guano which feeds the garden.

I have two ducks roaming over a 3rd of an acre veggie garden as well as a huge courtyard. With this number I trust them completely to free range. I am planning on getting two more females, which I believe will do more good than harm. It is easier to train them and keep them under control the fewer ducks you have, although you could have a temporary pen to keep them under control when needs be.

Normally your local farmer will know who to borrow an incubator from. You can easily ply him with cake to make him more obliging. This will also be useful in the future when you need his straw. Ensure the incubator is spotlessly clean using 1 in 5 dettol mix then thoroughly rinse afterwards. It is very important that your eggs remain pathogen free as they are very vulnerable to infection.

After 25-28 days you should start to hear cheeping and may see the first crack appearing. Increase the humidity by adding another bowl of water so that there is actually condensation in the incubator. The eggs need to be really moist if they are to hatch. They can take up to 24 hours to hatch so be patient. You can help them by placing a wet tea towel around them which will help them to break free of the shell.

If the chicks take longer than 24 hours after first beginning to break free of the shell then you can help by using a pair of tweezers to pull back tiny fragments of shell with the aim of revealing the beak. Only take off tiny fragments and do not proceed if the fragment has red veins on it, as doing so will kill the chick at this stage.

Remember captive-bred ducks such as Indian Runners lack many of the natural instincts. They will be hungry, so feed them chick mash mixed with water. You can get this online or from pet stores. Keep the box clean and dry. After one week you will be amazed at how much they have grown. You can now take away the heat lamp as long as the temperature remains at around 20 degrees Celsius.

If you want the ducks to lay in the same place as they sleep, ensure that it is dark and sheltered and provide bedding. The cheapest and most reliable way of getting cheap bedding is by calling up your local tree surgeon and ask them for their wood chips. They will give you this free of charge as they usually have to pay to dispose of it. The beauty of wood chips is that you layer it and it starts to break down in the hutch and may even provide additional warmth depending on the size of the hutch. I also found a thriving worm population living in the wood chips, which provided a tasty treat for the ducks when I was cleaning their hutch out. Wood chips are great added to a compost pile and used as mulch around trees.

After two weeks take the ducklings out into the garden. They should follow you by now. Turn over rocks and look around ravaged plants for slugs and feed them directly to the ducks. If you whistle when you feed them or make a particular noise they will associate this with slug-time after a few days of repetition. Feed them lots of little slugs to start with and as they grow bigger, increase the size of the slugs. If you have snails, smash them with a rock first and then feed them to the ducks. The ducks will now follow you around the garden and you can feed them the various pests as you go.

I feed the ducks on a varied diet to ensure they get all the nutrients they need, although it seems they would only eat slugs if given the opportunity. They also get kitchen scraps such as rice, pastry, cake, porridge and pasta, but they do not like greens. I supplement this with worms from my worm farm. I feed the worms the rest of my kitchen scraps apart from orange peel and onions. And I also supplement them with organic layers pellets to ensure they have got everything they need in their diet.

Thankyou for such a lovely,interesting guide to raising Ducklings,you make it sound so relaxing & easy. Getting a couple of week old runner Ducklings tomorrow & need all the good advise I can get.xxXxx

QUESTION: Hello there I would really like some advice. I have kept chickens for several years but yesterday I bought two Runner ducklings. They are just old enough to go outside. When we went to buy these ducklings they were kept in a greenhouse with the door open. It was a very hot day yesterday and they had some chick crumb down but no water. There was one dead in the run they where in. The man said he thought it was the runt. I pointed out that they had no water left in their bowl and the man said if they had lots of water available they drink themselves to death and drown internally and that I should only put down enough water to line the bottom of a small bowl for all day. I would really like to know what to do? I have given them half a small bowl this morning and they have had it all. I'm very confused.

QUESTION: As an events co-ordinator I am currently pulling together a programme of activities for our summer open day. We are always looking for original and entertaining ways of introducing wildlife to the public and raising the profile of more unusual breeds. Therefore, after seeing 'Runner Duck Racing' at another event last year I was hoping to arrange a similar activity. However, I have been unsuccessful in sourcing anybody who does this. I was hoping that you may be able to point me in the right direction or provide me with any useful contacts in my area. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your response to my enquiry. I am grateful that you have brought this to my attention, as I had not previously realised that this was a welfare issue for the birds. As animal well-being is paramount we absolutely would not want to arrange any activities or demonstrations that would cause unnecessary stress or harm to the birds. Thank you for your suggestion of the static display, which is definitely something that I will look into further.

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? Many thanks for your time, Pete

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

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.

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).

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

QUESTION: We're not members of your club 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) Subject: Runners bent over Sun, 3 Mar 2002I'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.

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