Are Swans that cool?

[marvun22]

I want swans, but I'm questioning if their worth my time and money. First, the money. I'm planning to get a nice hunk of poultry. 209 birds to be exact: 55 chickens, 48 ducks, 16 geese, 15 turkeys, 15 guinea fowl, 50 pheasants, 5 peafowl, around 3 emus, and 2 swans. The total amount for that many birds: Around $5,563.17, $2600 for the 2 swans alone. That leaves $2963.17 if I take the swans out. That's not even counting my huge poultry barn. The dimensions on that are going to be around 170'x75'. That price will obviously be pretty high too. It won't be as high because I'm making it myself. Then there is the enviroment problem. I'm not even remotely sure on how to make their living area. They're supposed to live in a pond during their life. I'm in North Dakota. We don't have huge ponds that often. Some times they're dried out and sometimes their frozen. I'm not sure how to make their living area. Then there is just the final factor, is it worth it? I know they look really pretty, but how cool are they? Are they really worth all the hastle and hustle?

 

[LBejaran]

Because you are aiming at having so many different types of birds, I'd recommend putting a hold on swans. Yes, they are lovely and of course they are eye-catchers. However, they will take up a huge chunk of your budget (though I've never heard of them costing that much). Also, swans are very territorial. If they are on a small pond, they will not allow other water fowl to be in that same pond. That puts your ducks and geese in quite a predicament.

Here's a fairly short video about swans. This guy has all types of birds, but he only has one pair of mute swans.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of swans were you thinking of getting? I'd think the emus would cost much more than the swans.

 

[marvun22]

Because you are aiming at having so many different types of birds, I'd recommend putting a hold on swans. Yes, they are lovely and of course they are eye-catchers. However, they will take up a huge chunk of your budget (though I've never heard of them costing that much). Also, swans are very territorial. If they are on a small pond, they will not allow other water fowl to be in that same pond. That puts your ducks and geese in quite a predicament.

Here's a fairly short video about swans. This guy has all types of birds, but he only has one pair of mute swans.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of swans were you thinking of getting? I'd think the emus would cost much more than the swans.

Emus are much less. I want Australian Black Swans, which are $2600 a pair with shipping. The Emus are $23 an egg.

 

[LBejaran]

Okay, I did a little research, just to see if there was any way you could save money. I guess the problem is that if you'd like to not pay $2600, you'd have to start out with babies. Of course, I'm not sure if people sell sexed swans that young. And if you're not really wanting to raise them to adulthood (you want so many other animals, so I can understand why adults are such a good idea), then you'll be footing the bill for those three years that the seller raised them to adulthood.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure swans are the best investment right now. You'll be spending so much time getting yourself situated with everything else, not to mention incubating emu eggs. I'd assume that's loads of work in and of itself (I've never incubated eggs myself: the hens do that for me).

Personally, I'm shocked you'd get so many different kinds of poultry at once. Unless you are staggering your purchases so you can acclimate to the different birds. It sounds like you've been doing loads of research, though, so I imagine you know this already.

The whole point of what I'm saying is that swans are an investment that are not likely to pay you back anytime soon, if at all. And the lack of a proper lake/pond will likely cause a problem. Ducks and geese are well adapted to land, but swans would probably be better off with water.

This is loads more complicated than I'd assumed it would be, haha!

 

[marvun22]

Okay, I did a little research, just to see if there was any way you could save money. I guess the problem is that if you'd like to not pay $2600, you'd have to start out with babies. Of course, I'm not sure if people sell sexed swans that young. And if you're not really wanting to raise them to adulthood (you want so many other animals, so I can understand why adults are such a good idea), then you'll be footing the bill for those three years that the seller raised them to adulthood.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure swans are the best investment right now. You'll be spending so much time getting yourself situated with everything else, not to mention incubating emu eggs. I'd assume that's loads of work in and of itself (I've never incubated eggs myself: the hens do that for me).

Personally, I'm shocked you'd get so many different kinds of poultry at once. Unless you are staggering your purchases so you can acclimate to the different birds. It sounds like you've been doing loads of research, though, so I imagine you know this already.

The whole point of what I'm saying is that swans are an investment that are not likely to pay you back anytime soon, if at all. And the lack of a proper lake/pond will likely cause a problem. Ducks and geese are well adapted to land, but swans would probably be better off with water.

This is loads more complicated than I'd assumed it would be, haha!

I'm not getting them all at once. My Chickens first in March(all at once). My Turkeys in April (from Porter's). Emu egg incubation starts in April as well. My standard ducks and standard geese in May (from Metzer's, Holderreads', and Celtic Oaks). Peafowl in May. Canada Geese in June (from Purely Poultry). Pheasants in later June (From www.pheasant.com). Guineas in July (Strombergs). Muscovy ducks in August (Purely Poultry). I'm probably just crossing swans off the list. Problem one is the pond. The other major problem is territorialism. I have the Swans who are territorial. I'll have a rooster or 2 that will want to boss around others. I have Muscovy duck males. I heard Peafowl aren't the best. Guineas would be inclined to make MORE noise. I have African geese. Here is the major problem. Canada Geese. I have heard about them. Them and the swans sound like a horrible fit together. With all these factors, I'll just cross them off my list. And this investment is 6-10 years away, so I have time to think.

 

[LBejaran]

It's just so many birds, haha! Are you planning on free ranging most of them (except maybe the flying birds, unless you put up a wire ceiling to prevent any losses)? If you do, you'll probably need to have separate pens to protect some species from others. When you have so many different animals, disease is easily spread. I've got a menagerie of different fowl mixed together, but I'm working on a significantly smaller scale.

Canada Geese do get a bad rap, but I have personally never dealt with them. I might be a good idea to get goslings, though. I had holdings for awhile who were raised with my ducklings. They integrated so well together that there were never any behavioral issues. Of course, if you have a goose that imprints on a duck, you may have a problem. My goose died only a couple days after her duck friend died. I haven't purchased any since, but that's mostly because the cost of them could be better utilized for feed.

I wish you luck, though. What you are doing sounds fantastic. Keep me updated!

 

[marvun22]

It's just so many birds, haha! Are you planning on free ranging most of them (except maybe the flying birds, unless you put up a wire ceiling to prevent any losses)? If you do, you'll probably need to have separate pens to protect some species from others. When you have so many different animals, disease is easily spread. I've got a menagerie of different fowl mixed together, but I'm working on a significantly smaller scale.

Canada Geese do get a bad rap, but I have personally never dealt with them. I might be a good idea to get goslings, though. I had holdings for awhile who were raised with my ducklings. They integrated so well together that there were never any behavioral issues. Of course, if you have a goose that imprints on a duck, you may have a problem. My goose died only a couple days after her duck friend died. I haven't purchased any since, but that's mostly because the cost of them could be better utilized for feed.

I wish you luck, though. What you are doing sounds fantastic. Keep me updated!

Anything that can fly is getting pinioned. I am free ranging everything. The Emus will get a fenced in free range area. The others will have the whole continent to free range.

 

[All Henned Up]

They poop all over our dock, we have to power wash it every few days in the summer if you want to go boating without poo all over everything. I'm not fond of them at all. Then there is the chasing, they are very territorial. I would almost pay you that to get rid of them.
Steve

 

[marvun22]

They poop all over our dock, we have to power wash it every few days in the summer if you want to go boating without poo all over everything. I'm not fond of them at all. Then there is the chasing, they are very territorial. I would almost pay you that to get rid of them.
Steve

It's starting to sound like they're not a good idea. I'll probably just stick with the "few" kinds of birds I'm already getting.

 

[Bens-Hens]

We have them wild here, nice to look at but can get snappy at the kids if they are not in the mood. I got these pics on my phone while out on a run one morning.