Can Indian Runners lay 2 eggs per day?

by Cyndi

Hello, I have 2 Fawn & White Indian Runner ducks. I assumed I had a male and a female, because of the size, color and mainly because I saw the larger duck on top of the smaller duck (many times).

My ducks are 9mos old; in the past few weeks I have noticed the smaller duck on top of the larger duck (mating).

And, now (another change of events) I have been getting 2 eggs per day (morning. Can a female Indian Runner lay 2 eggs (or more) per day? My husband thinks so, because we see wild ducks with a flock of ducklings.

The eggs are shaped differently and one is white and one is a very light green.

I want to separate them to see who is laying the eggs; I will separate them.

I also have palpated them each evening and I feel one egg in the one duck I believe is the female.
I do not feel and egg in the body of the duck I think is the male.

Neither duck has a curly tail feather, yet! When do they get the curly tail feather?
Thank you for your time!

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Hopefully, I can help solve your Runner duck mystery for you. Ducks only lay one egg per day. What you have are 2 females.

Each one has a different genetic line which shows in the color of the eggs being laid, one laying the white egg, and the other laying the pale greenish blue egg. It is normal to get this variation of color in duck eggs, including within the Runner duck breed.

In fact, black Runner ducks will lay a very dark black egg that is almost "sooty" in appearance because you can scratch off this outer black layer to find the more permanent color underneath.

With regards to the mating behavior that you have seen, this is perfectly normal between the same sexes of ducks. It is just a way of showing who is boss in the pecking order.

Finally, curly tails are only found in males, and as such, you will have a very long time finding them on your ducks. :) But, usually the curly tail feathers for male ducks appears around 4 months.

Another way of telling male from female Runner ducks is their voice. Females quack loudly and grunt, whereas male Runner ducks only squeak or rasp.