The eggs are pale gray to pale blue-green. The sexes share incubation, though the female spends the majority of time sitting, and the male usually stands guard. Incubation lasts 36-38 days. The male may often take the first-hatched cygnet to the water while the female continues to incubate the remaining eggs. They are able to fly in about 60 days.
Chicks can ride on the backs of their parents or under their wings.
By the following breeding season, the parents drive the young away. The cygnets then join flocks of other non-breeding swans, and during this time molt their feathers, becoming flightless for a short period of time. In the next two years, the cygnets begin to bond with a mate and begin to look for a suitable breeding territory. Swans do not begin to breed until about the third year. Mute swans set up large territories of 4-10 acres, which can include an entire small lake or pond.