An elderly Indian Runner duck should be weighed every two weeks, with a short hands-on check once a week.
Why a fortnight suits an elderly Indian Runner
An elderly Indian Runner's weight moves fast enough to deserve a fortnightly reading and slowly enough that weekly weighing becomes handling without information. Runners are nervous, quick birds by nature, and an old hen who is caught too often learns to sprint from her people, which costs an aging bird energy and risks a leg injury on wet ground. Every two weeks, done the same gentle way, keeps capture predictable. Her lightness also makes home weighing genuinely practical: a container on a kitchen scale reads a Runner accurately, unlike heavier waterfowl where platform scales wobble. Small absolute changes matter at her size, so judge her by the direction across two or three readings rather than by any single morning's figure.
The weekly hands-on check for an elderly Indian Runner
Once a week, pick up the elderly Indian Runner calmly and feel the keel running down her breast. Check her legs and feet carefully, because the upright Runner stance loads slender legs, and old birds develop scaly, thickened skin, small sores on the hocks, or a waddling hesitation that replaces the breed's usual brisk, upright march. Look at her eyes and nares, feel her abdomen gently for unusual firmness or swelling, and check the vent and the feathers beneath it. Then set her down and watch her walk to the water: a Runner who no longer hurries upright with the group is telling you something her weight has not yet confirmed.
Weighing an elderly Indian Runner without the chase
The weighing itself should be the least exciting event in an elderly Indian Runner's fortnight. Pen her small group in their usual shelter or a corner they know, step in quietly, and lift her with both hands over her wings, supporting her body, rather than grabbing at legs or neck. Set her into a towel-lined box or bucket on the scale, let her settle for a few seconds, record the figure, and put her straight back with her companions. Weighing at the same time of day matters with a laying-type bird, because an egg in the oviduct and a crop full of morning forage both register. Note beside the weight whether she laid that day and anything different about her appetite, since those two facts explain most puzzles in a Runner's record.
Reading the trend in an elderly Indian Runner
An elderly Indian Runner who loses a little weight across a season while staying bright, upright and keen at the feeder may simply be an old bird settling to a leaner frame, and the weekly keel feel tells you whether that leanness still carries muscle.
When an elderly Indian Runner needs a vet instead
Take an elderly Indian Runner to a veterinarian if she stops eating, sits fluffed and hunched rather than upright, breathes with effort, or cannot keep her balance. A discharge from the eyes or nares, a swollen abdomen, or sudden lameness in a bird this light all move faster than a fortnightly weigh-in can track, and they deserve prompt attention. Bring her recent weights to the appointment, because for a bird whose whole body weighs so little, the dates and direction of change are some of the most useful evidence you own. Keeping those fortnightly figures and weekly keel notes in her KinsLe Pet Passport holds an elderly Indian Runner's records in one place, so her small but telling history is ready to share whenever she needs care away from home.