First, are the mute swans your swans? Do you need a license/permit to have the swans in your state? If the swans are not yours and/or you need a permit, you may not legally be able to pinion their wings. If the swans are protected under your state laws, you could get in trouble for capturing and harming wildlife. If the swans are not protected (i.e., migratory) but, are deemed invasive, then you may need a permit to maintain the swans.

If none of the above applies and they are your swans, then we would suggest that you build a pen with an open end into the lake once the swans have begun nesting.

Think of a big U. You must ensure that the pen has laid eggs and is nesting. Once she is on the nest and the cob is with her, enclose the bottom of the U. Make sure you have a feeder with cracked corn, layer pellets and provide the swans with lettuce and some bread. DO NOT FEED anywhere near the nest or you will incur ants and other pests. Feed in the water. You also need to make sure that there is about 3-4 feet of water at the bottom of the U to provide the young and parents with water. The bank also needs to be level with the water so that the cygnets do not break their necks trying to get back onto the nest for the first couple of weeks.

Predators must also be considered. If you pen the nest and swans, do you have raccoons, foxes, cougars, coyotes? If so, you will be placing the swans and the cygnets in imminent danger. You will need to ensure that nothing can dig under the pens or crawl over the pens. Otherwise, you will have dead swans!

Finally, once the cygnets are hatched, you will need to get them to a veterinarian familiar with avian pinioning. This procedure needs to be done in a humane manner and ensure that local anesthesia or medical procedure eliminating pain is used. The pininoned wings will also need to be properly stitched or the wound will open and infection is possible. So, we strongly urge you to seek the assistance of a qualified veterinarian. You must also not keep the cygnets away from their parents more than 2 hours. After this time, the parents may reject the cygnets. Plan ahead to make sure that the time you capture the cygnets, transport to the veterinarian's office, have the procedure completed and return with the cygnets is within this time frame.

Finally, you will need to prevent injury from the swans to yourself and to the cygnets while you try to capture the cygnets. Swans have tremendous wings and can break a person's leg, arm and ribs if the wings should strike the wrong way. The birds can also inflict an injury upon themselves by breaking or injuring a wing against a tree or the pen trying to defend their young. They can also step on their cygnets causing severe, permanent and even deadly consequences. We hope that this information is of benefit. The Regal Swan