Our Domestic Birds: Elementary Lessons in Aviculture

by John H. Robinson

Fig. 176. Swan and nest

Origin and history in domestication. Tradition says that the domestic swan was brought to England from France by Richard the Lion-hearted. As the swan is a migratory bird, still sometimes seen in many parts of the Eastern Hemisphere north of the equator, it is possible that swans were known in England long before the reign of this king. However that may be, it is certain that, from about the time of the Norman Conquest, the swan has occupied a peculiar position in England. It was regarded as a royal bird, and the privilege of owning swans was granted only to those in high station. At first the number of those who were permitted to own swans was very small, but it was afterward extended until, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, more than nine hundred different swanmarks were registered by the royal swanherd, who had general oversight of all the swans in the kingdom. The swans were marked by branding or cutting the bill, this being necessary because they lived largely on the margins of uninclosed waters, just as in some of our Western states cattle live on unfenced lands. The right to own swans carried with it the right to keep them in such a place.

Place in domestication. Although it has been bred in captivity for centuries, the swan is not fully domesticated. It does not, like the duck and the goose, so increase in size and weight when kept under the control of man that it becomes incapable of flight, but, like the American Wild Goose in captivity, it is prevented from flying by removing the first joint of one wing, the operation being performed as soon as possible after the young birds are hatched. The swan lives more on the water than either the duck or the goose. It subsists largely upon coarse aquatic grasses and plants, and is said to eat all kinds of decaying matter found in the water.

In England in old times the swan was used as food by the wealthy, but its use for this purpose ceased long ago. It is now kept almost exclusively for ornament. Most of the swans in America are kept in public parks or on large private estates. Very few are reared here; the supply is kept up largely by importations from England. The swan is not popular, because the birds are costly and are not prolific. Still the breeding of swans for ornamental purposes or for sale to exhibitors might be carried on with profit upon many farms. Under suitable conditions, swans may, at the same time, perform valuable service and make a valuable product. By consuming the kinds of food which they prefer, they clean ponds and keep sluggish streams open. Being so large and strong, and requiring so much coarse food, they are a great deal more serviceable in this way than are ducks and geese.

Management. When swans were abundant in England, they were kept mostly upon certain rivers and inlets of the sea where natural food was abundant. The climate of England is so mild that they can there obtain food in such places at all seasons. The colder parts of America do not afford conditions favorable to swan culture. Where the winters are long and severe, and streams and ponds are frozen over for months, wintering swans would be troublesome and expensive, but where the waters are open throughout the year, a farmer who had a suitable place for them might breed swans with profit. A pair of swans would cost about the same as a good cow, and might make about the same net profit. But there would be this difference: the cow would require a great deal of care, the swans very little; the cow would eat salable food, the swans mostly waste food. By this comparison it is not meant to suggest that a farmer might profitably replace his cows with swans. The object is simply to show how the possible profit from small specialities compares with the usual profit from a regular feature of farming.

The methods of managing swans are much like the methods of managing wild geese in captivity. The principal difference is that the swans must have a larger body of water, and one in which vegetation is abundant. They are not as fond of land grasses as geese are, and like to float on the surface of the water, feeding on the vegetation at the bottom. Their long necks enable them to do this in water several feet deep. They need no shelter but a small hut, which they will use only in rare emergencies. After they have settled down in a spot, there should be no need of building fences to restrain them. As they are not able to fly, they will remain quite near their home unless food supplies there are very short. In that case extra food should be given them. Even when natural food is abundant, it is a good plan to feed swans a little of something else occasionally, to attach them to the person who has charge of them. As every one knows who has seen the swans in parks, where visitors amuse themselves by feeding them, swans are very fond of bread. They will eat grain also, although, when not accustomed to it, they may at first refuse it. Their food is usually given either by throwing it on the water or by placing it in troughs from which the birds can eat while floating upon the water.

Fig. 177. Feeding swans on the water