A rather sad follow up to the story of the little cygnet we rescued...

Having taken it to the wildlife sanctuary on Monday evening, the cygnet was put in with 5 much smaller cygnets also recently rescued. The older cygnet at the centre was still too ill to be introduced to a friend at this stage. The centre owner felt that "our" little one would be fine with the others due to its size. The following morning when the owner went in to feed them, "our" little one was dead with signs that the 5 smaller ones had attacked it.

Obviously this was very sad for us, but it does show how strong instincts in the wild can be as the family of 5 appeared to decide that the bigger bird was a threat and ganged up on it and despite their smaller size managed to overcome it.

Having spoken to others at Priorslee Lake, it seems that from a start of 9 hatchlings, only 1 now remains. It is thought that the others were taken at various ages by a mink which lives in the area- again nature in its most natural form I suppose. 

Today we had a call from clients out walking their dogs near Priorslee Lake. A young cygnet had been caught in some wooden boarding on a jetty and when released was completely collapsed. As the RSPCA could not attend, our nurse – Rhian – went to the rescue and returned to the surgery with the bird.

The bird was lifeless when brought in to the surgery- to the extent that it could not lift its head and made no effort to move its limbs. It appeared to be about 5 weeks old as all the down feathers were still present. The bird was suffering from a combination of heat exhaustion and over exertion and had damaged the muscles in its neck. We immediately cooled it down and started treatment for shock. With support of its neck it was able to start taking oral fluids as well. This continued into the night.

On Saturday the cygnet was slightly stronger although could still not eat or drink unassisted. Further injections to stimulate the appetite and reduce inflammation were given. Sunday saw it beginning to try to raise its neck and attempt to get up on its legs – we still had to assist feeding and drinking at this stage. We gave more injections during the day as well.

On Monday the bird started to hold its head up by itself for short periods and could paddle in the bath for a short time before tiring again. It started feeding and drinking by itself as well.

On Tuesday it was much stronger and could walk short distances as well as coping well when allowed to swim. It was now strong enough to fend for itself but on the advice of experts who have attempted to reintroduce young swans back to their parents, we decided it had been away from the family for too long and that the parents may well try to drown it on return. We therefore took the bird to a sanctuary in Much Wenlock to introduce it to another rescued cygnet of a similar age for later introduction to the wild together.

Collapsed cygnet day 1	Day 2 - propping head up with beak
Day 4 - Swimming	Day 4 - Standing well