MMMMMMMM Swannnnnnn
here's a recipe I found
Baked Swan Old Elizabethan Recipe
To bake a Swan
Scald it and take out the bones, and parboil it, then season it very well with Pepper, Salt and Ginger, then lard it, and put it in a deep Coffin of Rye Paste with store of Butter, close it and bake it very well, and when it is baked, fill up the Vent-hole with melted Butter, and so keep it; serve it in as you do the Beef-Pie
I figure with about $8 in ingredients you could have a pretty good meal if someone gave you the swan.
I'd do it for $20 $8 for ingredients and $12 for wine.
Besides, Swans are pretty but they are really nasty animals. They will drown other swans and are capable of drowning dogs. Geese are bad, swans are worse. But I wouldn't decapitate it, I would stand on its wings and slit the throat to bleed it out... at least that's what we used to do with the chickens on the farm. Decapitation can stop the heart and the blood can affect the taste of the meat. but that might be TMI for some who frequent the grocer.