Mute swan

[heartsizedfarm]

Can anyone provide a good home with a safe fenced pond and large shelter for an elderly mute swan? He has damage to his webbing and possibly arthritic legs, so he is not a candidate for release into the wild. He does not necessarily need a partner. He will not get on well with other species. Except he doesn't seem to mind the chickens he is currently living with. He is not tame, but he is not aggressive. I'm in southern Ontario, Canada.

 

[faunadocpam]

Do you still have your elderly mute swan? I would love to adopt him - don't know how hard it would be to get him into the US since they're considered pests here.
Pam

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Thanks for thinking of him. Yeah I guess getting him across the border could be tricky! He's relatively happy here with the chickens. We dug him a small pond. I was just hoping someone would have a better set up for him. Do you have swans or geese?

 

[faunadocpam]

I have an excellent set up! We have a 40 foot by 90 foot pond with a waterfall and aerator to keep the water moving. There's about an acre of meadow and willows and conifers inside an electric (predator control) fence along with a chicken coop. At night this is shared ground with chickens, ducks and 3 turkeys. During the day we open the fence and everyone is free range under the watchful eye of our two dogs. We also have cats, an aviary of cockatoos, and a pasture with two mini donkeys, a pony and two goats. It's a lot of animals but we have the space for them and they all respect each other's boundaries.

I am a retired veterinarian and my husband is a still working construction supervisor so we have what my husband calls a home for wayward animals. In my mind, it's a sanctuary for the unadoptable. I love them all and have the time to spend with them. Al enjoys building them custom accommodations.

I am a new member to Backyard Chickens (as of yesterday!) so I don't exactly know how this works. I think the thread is public but is there a way to send you a private message?

Here is a picture of our pond from several years ago when we had two male mute swans. One died of a wasting disease. The other, despite our best efforts, was killed by a coyote. Here is our house

I miss having swans. They are so amazingly beautiful and graceful... and cranky. It's almost like having a unicorn for a pet. My only concern is that we live very far apart. Al and I will be traveling as far east as Yellowstone next month but that's still only about a quarter of the distance between us. I don't mind driving - I've driven across the US a few times. Or maybe you would like to visit Washington state? At any rate, we are an option for you if you'd like to place your swan.
Thanks-
Pam

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Pam I love your place! Beautiful! And your description of the swan, like having a unicorn for a pet, perfect. I will check with my vet and look into the legality of moving a swan across the border. Heavens, if he was migrating he could move himself, so it seems a bit silly to have border rules for them. I will look into it. Thanks so much for responding. Here's a picture of Eddy in his little pool. We have since planted some trees and shrubs but its still far from ideal.

 

[faunadocpam]

He's a beauty - I love that wing raised look. I think of it as swan yoga, kind of a Salute to the Sun. Technically he would need a health certificate to cross any border, either from Canada to the US or even across state lines here. Practically, the less official involvement the better. When I adopted our previous swans I drove them from Arizona to here without doing any paperwork. I had them in the camper shell in the back of the pick up truck and we certainly turned some heads at rest stops!