Hi. I am writing from New Zealand. I rescued a week old cygnet from a local park a week ago. He/she had a damaged foot, was not able to follow its parents well and when it did catch up they stomped on it and stole any food I gave it. I made the decision to take it and have feed and cared for it for the last week. It's foot has made a complete recovery and it is now walking normally. It has got much stronger and put on weight. I am feeding it pond and duck weeds and chick starter food. It swims and preens now too. My question is when can it realistically be released onto a pond. I have a friend with a very large pond that has ducks and other swans on it. I am happy to keep caring for it but know it will get very big and will need more than the bathtub to swim on. Any advice on housing in the meantime would be great too. At the moment he sleeps in a large hutch with bedding at one end and food at the other but he will get too tall for this.

Thanks