We are numbering your questions so that we can provide you with specific answers:

1. Swans eat aquatic vegetation, grasses, cracked corn and layer pellets, bread, lettuce, and may eat some small fish larva, crustaceans etc., that might be intermingled withing the muck and on the bottom of the body of water.

2. Food runs about $12.00 per 50 lb of food and they can go through about 150 lbs of food in a month, as long as the food is kept dry in the dog feeders from which the swans feed. If the food gets wet, then the food must be changed more frequently.

3. Swans cannot be domesticated like ducks and geese. So, they may let you feed them, answer to their names, but you will never be able to touch them as you would a dog or cat.

4. Swans need a pond and their pond should be at least 3/4 of an acre or more to provide them with an ample food, bathing, swimming, and habitat source. So, a 8x7 or 8x8 pond would not be fair to the animal which is a strong swimmer and likes to patrol its habitat.

5. You can have just one girl swan, but she will not be able to protect herself very well if you have predators, i.e., coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, foxes, domestic dogs and cats in the area. Also, one swan may imprint on a human (thinking that they are a human not a swan) which makes it harder for them to protect themselves against natural predators. They will depend on you to keep them safe.

6. Friendliness of the swan depends on the species and the individual swan. It also depends on how the swans are raised.

7. Happiness of having a mate is dependant upon the species, the gender and the individual swan. But, usually, having another swan to grow up and be together on the pond is much easier on the swans than just one swan. The swans will look out for each other and even protect each other from predators.
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