mute swan

[shicks0211]

I have a mute swan, he was born in april. i don't really let him out on the lake yet, i have tried him out a few times, he actually seems scared of the ducks and the water. one time he went out and got so excited..seemed to like swimming around, but then got carried away and we had to get the kayaks out and go save him. His female died a month or so ago. What are others experiences with getting them out on the water, and when will he have actual feathers?

 

[Going Bhonkers]

I dont have any experience with swans, but have you tried getting him something smaller to swim in? a kiddie pool, perhaps? I would have thought that they'd have feathers by 4 months. I hope you'll get some better answers from the 'official' swan people

. Do you have a picture of him that you can post?

 

[shicks0211]

from what I've read he should get his feathers in the next month. he has some on his tail..and his belly..he looks kind of ragged, but is very sweet. I do have like a small little pool but it's not big enough to dive in. i see other swans on other lakes swimming at this age..but they have their parents to kind of help them get out and such.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Awww, he's adorable!! Hopefully Chickenzoo will see this thread & respond, I know she has swans for sure.

 

[chickenzoo]

Someone called???? Lol
Awww very very cute. Yep he should start feathering in soon....they seem like they stay fuzzy forever. I always start mine in a kiddie pool since they didn't have parents. I always had two, so if you get another or find a duck or goose friend for him for now. You can also take 2x10's and a pond liner andframe out a small pool for him until he gets better at swimming on his own. I would be afraid to let h out there until he is fully feathered and as more experience since he doesn't have parents to teach him.

 

[chickenzoo]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/album/6131651/id/4523957/sort/display_order

 

[shicks0211]

Yeah..i'm trying to find another one ..a female so when they grow up he won't chase his friend away , I do have ducks as well, runners, a pekin, a cuyoga, and a couple buffs. They run up to me in the yard and i feed them, but if He sees them coming he heads for the hills like he's scared to death of them! They're curious and seem to want to see what he's about but he has no interest right now. Maybe i'll have to get a couple babies again if i can't find another swan..it's hard to find someone that is selling just one but someone told me it's easier when fall comes because people won't ship them in the summer heat. I can get a kiddie pool...but if it's to teach him to swim, it seems like it'll have to be a couple feet deep. I have a smaller one, but he basically just stands in it...when we saved him from the lake, and i picked him up, he was so exhausted. I wish i would have gotten a picture but he just draped his neck over my shoulder and laid his head on me..poor baby. I was thinking since ducks grow so quickly that maybe if i got a couple babies and they grew up together they could teach him how to manage in and out of the water, and the ducks seem to have a natural knack for knowing about predators. I let them on the lake after a couple months and they do very well..if the bald eagle flies over they go under the dock .

 

[chickenzoo]

I know some people make a pen out of plastic lattice by the waters edge and so many feet into the water . They make it so that so many feet of the lattice is under water and above water so the swan cant go over or swim under. Maybe pen him with a duck or two... or a goose.. so they get use to each other.

 

[shicks0211]

Oh..that's a great idea! what can I use though as the fence? that bright orange stuff on construction sites? do they sell that at like home depot? I can attach it to my dock on one side and maybe put posts in..a little further out than the end of the dock..and patially up onto the land so he can get out. I'm not sure how to go about this.

 

[chickenzoo]

Yep....they sell it at home depot. You might get a few tall t posts and pound in every so many yards to hold it in place and zip tie it to the posts. May need some sort of weight in the middle.....like anoched to a sand bag...?????