Ask the Swan Specialist

In Response To: Re: Swan Feeders (The Regal Swan)

Hi Jo Ellen:

We use the "Dog Café". At the bottom of this post, you will find a photo of the feeder mounted on a pole via u-bolts and placed 3 feet in the water. You want to be able to keep pests such as rats and ants from the feeder, so you need at least 3 feet of water. This will also keep predators from accessing the swans as they eat as the swans will be able to monitor their habitat while eating.

The Dog Café bottom is removed as this is actually the water source for dogs and you do not need this. You want to use just the top of the Dog Café which has a trap door. You will need to train the swans to use the device. Place food in the feeder and prop the door open. Dump some food from the feeder into the water directly under the trap door while the swans are watching. They will eventually figure out that the food is coming from the feeder. Once they begin to use the feeder, you can close the door and the swans will access the food.

The feeder will need to be scooped once a week if not daily to prevent wet food from getting moldy which can seriously hurt the birds, even kill them. If the food is moldy, place in a bucket and discard in a bag or other container in which other animals will not be poisoned by accessing the dumped food. As long as you scoop the food daily, you should not have a problem with mold unless you have a heavy rain storm and the rain accesses the food. The Regal Swan
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