Raising pinioned swans

[LTygress]

I'm "just visiting" this forum right now. I am no where NEAR ready to invest in a swan at all right now (only chickens at the moment, and geese coming in this year). I'm not even completely sure if I will ever get any, so I'm merely asking this question out of curiosity.

I know a "pinioned" bird has the tip of it's wing altered to keep it from flying properly. And apparently this keeps flying birds from flying away forever.

My question is, if you raise swans who have NOT been pinioned, and raise them from a day old, do they still fly away, like a migration trip? Or do they simply fly around a lot... like to go visit the neighbor's fenced-in property? In other words, how likely are they to stick around the home of the person who raised them?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

That's a good question. In some states in the US, the people who keep Mute Swans are required to get a permit and make sure they are pinioned (which is typically done within a week of hatching.) In fact enough have left their original owners and reproduced that they are considered an invasive species in North America. It is hard to say if hand raised swans are less likely to wander off. Mute Swan who live in North America do not migrate. If there is more than one male swan in an area the dominant male may chase the other away once they are sexually mature. All my swans are pinioned, but one of our swans walked almost a mile away when we transferred him and his sisters from the enclosure where they were raised by their parents to the pond on the property. Fortunately my husband was able to find him when drove down a side road. He was also lucky to catch him and get him back home with out a big swan poop in the front seat of his car.

Btw, I think geese are lots of fun. I am more attached to my geese than the swans, but I hand raised all my geese, whereas the swans were hatched and raised by their swan parents.

 

[LTygress]

I'm seriously considering the idea of getting/making a house goose, actually...

Shh! (my sister and brother-in-law might not like it, lol!)


And by getting/making, I mean getting an egg, hatching it, and training it with diapers.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

LOL, diapers would be a must. Water fowl are super-poopers!

Hatching one goose might be frustrating. If you incubate one egg, I'm not sure the chances of successful hatching would be better than 50-70%.

A lone goose would definitely form a strong bond with you. I know someone who had a pet goose as a kid, and his goose would go through separation anxiety when he was gone for several days and the sad goose wouldn't even eat. I think I would feel guilty going out anywhere if I had a goose so dependent on my companionship.

 

[LTygress]

I'm actually expecting 5-6 eggs. It's an interesting story, but I only bought 3 eggs... LAST YEAR. However, the eggs were never sent, and I got a surprise this year when the lady contacted me a week ago, asking if I still wanted them. And for waiting so long, she's sending an extra 2 or 3.

So there's a very good chance I'll get more than one. My nieces are totally in to the idea. But only one would be a house goose, so we'll see.