| The swans that come into care suffer from a
variety of problems.
Pictured are some of the patients. |
| Cygnets One cygnet we found was found
abandoned by its parents at only a few days old.
Nature must have known something not apparent to
the vet or to us after a day or two in care the
cygnet had a fit and died. In other cases
abandoned cygnets have grown up only to be found
suffering from a deformed foot, aeroplane wing or
similar. |
| Cygnets are sometimes separated from their
parents by boats or by becoming carried over the
weir or a lock race. If we are confident that we
know the family we will make every effort to
quickly return the cygnet to them. If we
mistakenly choose the wrong family the adults will
often attack the interloper. |
| We have also had cygnets into care that have
been bitten by pike, pecked by crows or herons and
inevitably caught up in fishing tackle. |
Yearlings possibly suffer more
from flying accidents as their navigation skills
may not be well developed. Also from territorial
disputes, straying into other territories or being
chased away by their own parents. |
| Swans Many admissions are due to
fishing tackle injuries that we have been unable
to deal with on site. |
Alder was admitted with one of the very worst
injuries we have ever encountered. We do not know
what caused it - it could have been barbed wire or
fishing tackle. The skin had rolled back leaving
several inches of raw flesh all round the neck.
The wound was kept clear of infection and
prevented from drying until the vet was able to
stitch the loose edges together. One really
curious point was that as the wound healed the
cygnet grew white feathers leaving a distinctive
band until the rest of his plumage also changed as
he matured. |
| Swans sometimes come into care with plumage
contaminated by diesel or even cooking oil. These
are cleaned using washing up liquid. Swans hate to
be dirty and in attempting to clean their plumage
will ingest the substance on their feathers
causing digestive problems. |
Mango (KCP) - admitted with a hook
in the oesophagus - from the Reading area;
pictured before and after the hook was surgically
removed by the vet.
 |
| We had one swan in that we named Painted Lady;
this swan was admitted covered in marine paint. It
was impossible to use thinners or similar
de-contaminants as these would have been absorbed
into the skin and caused a slow and painful death.
|
