Hi, we have a pair of mute swans and this is their third nest of eggs.The first two nests never hatched and a "swan lady" told me that their eggs may not be viable due to the way they were raised by a local breeder who feeds them on only white bread,and that they may not have developed their reproductive capabilities correctly due to poor nutrition while maturing. Does this sound likely? We have had the male for about 6 years now and the female for about 3 years & we feed them chicken pellets & chicken scratch plus they graze in the barn yard & eat things from the pond. The male had a previous female mate who died about 4 years ago and our first pair never laid eggs even though there was some activity about building a nest. Since the male is extremely aggressive during this season, and due to two failed seasons already, I was wondering if I should take the eggs away from her assuming they are not viable, or if I should try to candle the eggs. If I candle them and see the blood dot with the veins then put them back in the nest will she still sit on the nest after they've been handled by me. These are our "pet" swans and they are used to me. Do I have to worry about laws in North Carolina that may pertain to breeding mute swans or moving their eggs? I can't find any definite info about that on line. We would LOVE to get some expert advise.

the female swan faithfully sits on the nest almost 24/7 for about 7 or 8 weeks before she finally gives up the nest with no results. I have read on your site that if the eggs were not viable they might not sit on the nest like that. So the swans obviously think the eggs are viable but we have not had one hatch yet. We have had between 3 and 5 eggs in the past and she just laid her first egg of the season yesterday. I hate to see her sit on the nest for 2 months again if nothing will come of it but I don't know how to tell that. It is a difficult 2 months for all of us due to how upset the male is with me around and him trying to attack me when I collect chicken eggs and feed our ducks, chickens & swans every day, and how long she has to sit there so we'd love some advice.