It is now the end of June and we have 3 surviving cygnets. They seem to be doing very well. 2 are white and one still gray. They are eating corn now and spending more time away from Mom. We had originally planned to let them be adopted by a woman who live a couple of miles from us, but now I am hearing from many of our homeowners (the swans belong to the home owner's association) that they really want to keep them around. They have not been pinioned yet and it is not a KS law that they need to be. Your book says that they can be pinioned later, but at what age would be best? They can certainly stay with their parents where they are feed and have the nesting area. But if they start getting chased off next mating season we want to provide another area with feeding stations and shelter. There are four lakes in our secluded neighborhood and we would love to encourage them to stay. Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed?
Thanks, Carol