Swan Thread, quistions on,aivery,breeding,photos,food etc

[tacklouis]

hello
i decided to make a swan thread because every day a see a few quistions pass about swans, i would you all to post them here so I or some one else that keeps them or has knowledge about them, i am a breeder of coscoroba swans i have knowledge about all swan breeds and with some of them experiance, you can ask any quistions and post picuter, some examples of quistions that can be asked,
how big should the pond be ?
the aivery ?
at what age can they breed ?
what type of swans would be the best for me ?
just dont ask me about permits because here in europe we dont have any for swans they just need to be tagged with a sealed plastic ring that gows around thier legs when they are a few weeks old.
so place all your post here so i can help answer etc

 

[bdfive]

Curious why now one has posted to this thread. Supposing few readers have swans. I have a young pair of Black Australian Swans and have some questions.

1. Gunther is a male, almost 4 months old. Will he intentially hurt the 2 month old smaller female? I believe it's his size and wings that could hurt her.

2. What is the minimum size aviary they need when grown?

3. Presently I'm using a kiddie pool but will soon change to a round 300 gallon Rubbermaid water trough that is 2 feet deep and almost 6 feet across. How long will that be adequate?

4. I'm feeding them Mazuri Maintenence Waterfowl, 13% protein. Changed at 6 weeks old from Mazuri Starter, 20% protein. Was told they need not grow so fast that they will have leg problems. They are heavy bulky birds for those little legs. They also get greens or grass every day. Should I be giving them anything else?

5. I worm my peafowl with SafeGuard or Ivermectin every 6 months. Should captive swans be wormed? Can they be wormed the same as peafowl?

6. Have read and been told Black Australian are a smaller Swan then other breeds. Is this true?

OK, enough questions for now but am sure I'll have more. Thank you for starting this thread and helping us beginners. I hatched out 6 Black and 3 Mute cygnets for someone. Decided I had to take this journey caring for a pair of them. I adore spending time in their present pen that is 8 by 28 feet, 9 feet high. I was carrying them out into the yard to eat grass but Gunther has grown past the age of wanting to be picked up and can run pretty fast from me when it's time to go back in their enclosure, LOL!!! They're pinioned with only the end joint removed. I swear, Gunthers wings are so huge already I see him flying off regardless. He loves running and flapping them so won't be offering these birds any long open spaces to test LIFT off into the wild blue yonder. My gosh, they are amazing beautiful birds. I'm in awe being blessed with a pair.

7. I'm assuming the day will come when I'm running from them instead of after them. Right? Hahaha!!!!

 

[SwanMom]

I'm no expert; I just care for the three in our neighborhood association, Albert I (about 20 years old), Albert II and Victoria II. The young pair live on a 7+-acre lake. Albert I lives on an adjoining lake shared by another neighborhood. Our 6 year old male, Albert II, mated with our 4 yr. old female, Victoria II, this spring. She laid 5 eggs. Two hatched, 2 were broken, and 1 was kicked out of the nest and never hatched. One that hatched disappeared quickly. The 2nd one that hatched lasted 2 1/2 weeks before it disappeared. We think it was a hawk.

I would appreciate any advice on keeping our cygnets alive next year. I've read that penning them up makes them easy prey.

I have never seen any of our 3 attempt to fly, but they can swim VERY fast!

Like bdfive, I am awed by them.

 

[tacklouis]

. Gunther is a male, almost 4 months old. Will he intentially hurt the 2 month old smaller female? I believe it's his size and wings that could hurt her,
i advice you to wait just until they both have past the age of 5 months and then you can put them together, putting smaller chicks with bigger chicks/cygnets/ducklings can lead to the death of the smaller one becuase the bigger one will defend the food/bullie her/or just play around with because of boredom

2. What is the minimum size aviary they need when grown?
when they are fully grown a avairy of 10x12 meters is a good aivery for them, when they are growing up i would give a pen half the size and as they get bigger you enlargen the enclosure

3. Presently I'm using a kiddie pool but will soon change to a round 300 gallon Rubbermaid water trough that is 2 feet deep and almost 6 feet across. How long will that be adequate?

4. I'm feeding them Mazuri Maintenence Waterfowl, 13% protein. Changed at 6 weeks old from Mazuri Starter, 20% protein. Was told they need not grow so fast that they will have leg problems. They are heavy bulky birds for those little legs. They also get greens or grass every day. Should I be giving them anything else?
no, keep feeding them what you were told give the gras en lettece that is choped up they wil love also
5. I worm my peafowl with SafeGuard or Ivermectin every 6 months. Should captive swans be wormed? Can they be wormed the same as peafowl?
yes, you should treat them against worms like you are advised with all animels to, i worm mine once or 2 a year but make you sure the person that sold you the product help you to explain the right doses
6. Have read and been told Black Australian are a smaller Swan then other breeds. Is this true?
the black swans are smaller then the nativ swans of americe, the smallest spieces is the coscoroba and some argue it is the blacknecked

OK, enough questions for now but am sure I'll have more. Thank you for starting this thread and helping us beginners. I hatched out 6 Black and 3 Mute cygnets for someone. Decided I had to take this journey caring for a pair of them. I adore spending time in their present pen that is 8 by 28 feet, 9 feet high. I was carrying them out into the yard to eat grass but Gunther has grown past the age of wanting to be picked up and can run pretty fast from me when it's time to go back in their enclosure, LOL!!! They're pinioned with only the end joint removed. I swear, Gunthers wings are so huge already I see him flying off regardless. He loves running and flapping them so won't be offering these birds any long open spaces to test LIFT off into the wild blue yonder. My gosh, they are amazing beautiful birds. I'm in awe being blessed with a pair.

7. I'm assuming the day will come when I'm running from them instead of after them. Right? Hahaha!!!!
that they can be there in one year if you place a female with him and in a year or 3 you can maybe expect eggs
i will post some pics of my coscorobas

 

[tacklouis]

 

[tacklouis]

 

[cajunfowl0]

Did the eggs ever hatch?

 

[tacklouis]

the first clutch was infurtile, it is a young couple that is 2,6 years old and it is rare for them to lay eggs now, that cluth was 7 eggs and now she is sitting on a second clutch of 4-5 eggs so this time i have more chance of them bieng fertile, they become fertile there 3rd year so fingers crossed !.!