# Why Is Swan Meat So Expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628 "2008-12-25T05:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/1 "2008-12-25T05:29:25Z")
I found this site with exotic meats [Swam Meat](http://www.brentwoodtradinggroup.com/swmeandswmer.html) It says: 1800Steaks Regular price: $1,499.99 1800Steaks Sale price: $999.99 Why so much? If you look at other "exotic meats [Exotic Meats](http://www.brentwoodtradinggroup.com/exoticmeats.html) They aren’t nearly as much ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/2 "2008-12-25T07:41:27Z")
Maybe that’s the price for 1,800 of them? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/3 "2008-12-25T07:47:04Z")
(answering my own conjecture) No that’s not it, they all list as 1800AnimalName Price ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/4 "2008-12-25T16:44:10Z")
Good grief. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy a duck and then beat it with an ugly stick? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/5 "2008-12-25T19:19:52Z")
Wow, basically $1,000 for one, shipped live if you live outside of California. I need to start raising some of those. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/6 "2008-12-25T19:37:01Z")
[QUOTE=the Swan Meat site] [URL=“[http://www.brentwoodtradinggroup.com/swmeandswmer.html](http://www.brentwoodtradinggroup.com/swmeandswmer.html)”] The mute swan has been a royal bird since at least 1186 and was formally assigned royal status in the Act of Swans in 1482. [/quote] > [@](#): > > _It was the duty of the Royal Swanmaster to organise the annual swan-upping on the Thames, when the cygnets are rounded up and marked, which survives in symbolic form to this day._ > [@](#): > > \*Today, the Queen still has ownership of all swans in the UK except in one small corner of the British Isles - the Orkney Isles. Under Udal Law, the ancient Norse system of inheritance and law, which the Viking settlers brought to Orkney, the swan is the property of the people, rather than the Crown. > > The case was proven in 1910 by a Kirkwall lawyer who, accompanied by his friend, the Procurator-Fiscal, went out to Harray Loch and shot a swan. The case went to the High Court and the Crown lost. Nowadays, Orcadians do not shoot swans, but the principles of the old Norse Udal Law still stand.\* So there’s your answer. Swan meat is costly because the swan market is dominated by insane people. Raise your own swans for fun and profit! Declare yourself Royal Swanmaker under Viking law! Travel to Orkney and befriend the Procurator-Fiscal, then symbolically round up and marry your swan during the annual swan-upping, in accordance with the Act of Swans! _Swan swan swan swan swan swan swan swan swannity swan wonderful swan…_ ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/7 "2008-12-25T19:42:07Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Wow, basically $1,000 for one, shipped live if you live outside of California. I need to start raising some of those. I can see it now…“Swan, the new ostrich!” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/8 "2008-12-25T19:59:32Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > So there’s your answer. Swan meat is costly because the swan market is dominated by insane people. Yeah, but these swans are California swans, so the Queen doesn’t have much say. A queen might be involved, it being California and all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/9 "2008-12-25T20:02:28Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > So there’s your answer. Swan meat is costly because the swan market is dominated by insane people. you win the thread 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/10 "2008-12-25T20:03:43Z")
With all due respect, there _is_ a mailto link right at the top of the page. You could contact the company and ask for the official answer. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/11 "2008-12-25T20:12:55Z")
I imagine swans do not take well to captive breeding? IIRC they don’t live in big groups, so it’s not the same as keeping a flock of geese in your back yard. Plus they are viscious buggers when they want to be… not easy to pick one up (even if they don’t break your arm with their wings, as we were told as kids). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/12 "2008-12-25T21:23:05Z")
Is swan meat even that good? I’ve never had any but I would think it would be like goose meat but greasier, bonier, and with less flavor. > [@Markxxx](#): > > [Exotic Meats](http://www.brentwoodtradinggroup.com/exoticmeats.html) > > They aren’t nearly as much I clicked that site and was halfway disappointed they didn’t have [komodo dragon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099615/) meat. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/13 "2008-12-25T22:12:27Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Is swan meat even that good? I’ve never had any but I would think it would be like goose meat but greasier, bonier, and with less flavor. Goose is really greasy. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/14 "2008-12-26T02:23:04Z")
From what I’ve heard about the taste of swan meat, it’s so expensive because no one orders one twice. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/15 "2008-12-26T03:07:18Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > you win the thread 🙂 Oh I have my sights set much higher, I assure you. _Hwaet!_ I hereby declare myself Official Swanmaster of the SDMB. I have fiscally procured an official _letters patent_ from the Procurator-Fiscal of Udal-on-Orkney which certifies my authority under the Act of Swans; with all rights, royalties and jurisdictions adhering thereto, given and granted to mine heirs and assignee forever. As my first formal act of office, I therefore ordain and establish the First International SDMB Swan-Upping! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-swan-meat-so-expensive/478628/16 "2008-12-26T03:22:50Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > From what I’ve heard about the taste of swan meat, it’s so expensive because no one orders one twice. Rumor has it that they taste remarkably like princess meat.