Broody Indian Runners

[Jarrod32]

Can't tell me that Runners won't go broody. Our Runner hen sat on a bunch of eggs under an evergreen tree in our yard, and...well...



Now, as we have four males (one each Pekin, Black Swedish, Runner, and Khaki Campbell) and one hen of each of those four breeds we are not sure of the specific lineage of these ducklings. I can tell you that racial purity did not seem to be a consideration when breeding activities took place.

And she is sticking with it...she hasn't abandoned the ducklings...

 

[CyndiD]

Thank you Amiga. I will kèep watching them & take good care of them. I named them Pekin & Boo (Peek n' Boo) since the sales person who sold them to my DH said they were pekin ducklings. Anyway since Ms Boo has been sitting, Ms Pekin is my best friend, she is gardening w/me & i am sharing the grubs & worms i am digging up while weeding. She is bored w/out her sister/companion, Ms Boo.
Ur avatar pic, is that a pencil runner? S/he is beautiful. Take care TTYL

 

[picky]

Aweeee they look cute! I cant wait for mine to get used to us and start laying eggs. They have being here for two weeks and I havent see any eggs yet. Good luck with those cutties!

 

[Amiga]

Thank you Amiga. I will kèep watching them & take good care of them. I named them Pekin & Boo (Peek n' Boo) since the sales person who sold them to my DH said they were pekin ducklings. Anyway since Ms Boo has been sitting, Ms Pekin is my best friend, she is gardening w/me & i am sharing the grubs & worms i am digging up while weeding. She is bored w/out her sister/companion, Ms Boo.
Ur avatar pic, is that a pencil runner? S/he is beautiful. Take care TTYL

Elf is a chocolate Runner with snow

 

[CyndiD]

Did u hatch Elf? If so, w/what runners to get that color?

 

[Amiga]

Elf came as a day-old through Meyer Hatchery.

 

[Jattaway]

Wow! I enjoyed your blog, thanks, but I was wondering if your runners hatched any eggs themselves, or did you have to incubate them?
I have a F/ W Indian runner and a Rouen Drake, Rex is my female and she just started laying on 8/17/2015, she is laying daily ever since, one egg a day, then she layer two on the same day yesterday, now she has 9 eggs, they are white, about the same size as chicken eggs, but do you know when she will sit and are there any clues to look for in her behavior if she is going to sit?
I guess I'm just anxious, either she will or she won't, but someone told me she is probly too young to sit, then I read somewhere that you should pull the first few eggs, not sure why, I'm just confused and looking for some answers, do you have any ideas for me?

 

[redface]

Wow! I enjoyed your blog, thanks, but I was wondering if your runners hatched any eggs themselves, or did you have to incubate them?
I have a F/ W Indian runner and a Rouen Drake, Rex is my female and she just started laying on 8/17/2015, she is laying daily ever since, one egg a day, then she layer two on the same day yesterday, now she has 9 eggs, they are white, about the same size as chicken eggs, but do you know when she will sit and are there any clues to look for in her behavior if she is going to sit?
I guess I'm just anxious, either she will or she won't, but someone told me she is probly too young to sit, then I read somewhere that you should pull the first few eggs, not sure why, I'm just confused and looking for some answers, do you have any ideas for me?

Hi! I left them to attempt to do it themselves as I thought they'd put the time in so I have to at least give them a chance.
One hatched and they trampled it to death, the next day two more hatched and they also died in the nest.

At this point I heated up 10 infertile eggs in my incubator and did a switcheroo when they were eating!

Ended up with 6 healthy ducklings. Quite a few hadn't incubated.

Basically indian runner ducks (in my experience) are pretty rubbish mums, sad to say but true.

They sat on them really well, we had 3 girls on two nests and they did a great job up until the hatching stage. At this point after 3 deaths to what would have been perfectly healthy ducklings I had to make the decision.

Hope this helps

 

[Jattaway]

Yes, it helps,
She didn't lay today, first time since she started laying eggs, and yesterday she laid two, one on the sidewalk and one in their pond, first time she laid outside her house,
She hasn't been sitting on them today, she has ten eggs in her box in her house, if she doesn't sit on them tomorrow, I guess I will just toss them and not mess with her hatching her own,
If I want more I will get an incubator and try that, I don't have very much room but I did want another duck, but only one, so no big deal really, thanks for your advice, helped me a lot

 

[MaureenD]

Hello all,
My smaller Chocolate Runner (Cornelia) got broody yesterday and possibly the day before. I was working in the yard yesterday and noticed she was not with the other three hens. I peaked in the coop and there she was, up in the box on a nest of fake wood eggs. I collect eggs every morning. So, this morning, I went to collect eggs, and there were only three (real ones) and the four fakes. My guess is she did not lay (the runners lay green eggs and I only had one). So, I took the fakes out, cleaned up the coop and slid the access door to it closed (it is up a ramp- she would have to climb up into it). I will check today and see how she is. She is a little hyper to begin with, was the runt when we got them.

Will this pass? I only have hens.

Hormonal. The world runs on hormones.
: )