how to keep ducks from swimming away ? + hawk dettering ?

[fordowner]

ive just recently began letting my ducks out every other day for supervised freerange. my goal is to get them to the lake that is in our yard, and ive almost got them comfortable enough to reach the bank.
however, im concerned about them swimming past where i can reach them, and if they will come back to me after about 20 minutes of swimming. i have them trained to follow me, but their training is built on snacks and im worried that they will decide swimming into the middle of the lake is much better than mealworms.
im also worried that if they swim where i cant reach them, a hawk will get them because they are out in the open.
is there any way i can keep them in the shallow water or deter hawks from them while they are in the water ? is the tall grass that surrounds the area i want them to stay in good enough to deter them from swimming further/good cover from hawks?
im so worried about these ducks ive had them for a year and a half and raised them myself from a brooder in my bedroom and if anything happened to them i think i would never be able to forgive myself.

i also have two cayugas, one with white spots one still pure black. i read from here that cayugas can look like crows to hawks? if thats true how much would that help to deter hawks from my ducks?

thank you to anyone who read all of my worried rambling lol. they are my babies and i lay awake at night thinking of solutions for every possible thing when it comes to them.

 

[nuthatched]

I don't think there's a solution besides not letting them swim in the lake, the depth of the water won't mean much to hawks, they'd likely be safer in deep water.
I can't say I've heard of hawks snatching adult ducks off a pond, but if you're that concerned, make a big covered run and add a pond in there

 

[Evadig]

I wouldn't let them on the pond at all...if they're anything like my ducks (who I also raised in a brooder in my bedroom) treats will do nothing for them once they've tasted the glories of the pond. They simply will not come back on land until they want to, even if that's two days later.
The only way to keep them in the shallow water would be to build a fence (through the pond) and hope they don't fly over it.
There's also the possibility of snapping turtles killing or maiming them.
And once the ducks have learned that the pond exists, they will forever be trying to get into it.
So I think that if you want to keep your quackers safe(r), the best thing would be to keep them as far away from the pond as possible !

 

[Awaytome]

Regarding hawks taking ducks off the water, I can say they do. Even fake ducks. A red-tailed hawk tried to snatch the mallard-shaped chlorine tablet holder floating in my pool (back when I lived in a remote area of AZ). After struggling with the plastic duck, the hawk ended up in the water, unable to get out. I eventually fished it out with the pool net but it had been in there quite a long time and lost confidence in its ability to fly. It spent the rest of day and night hiding behind pool equipment. Next day it climbed up the chain link fence, walked along the top of it and up to a spot where it was able to hop onto a table umbrella on the hillside. From the umbrella top it looked over the desert landscape and finally made a leap into the air. I wonder if it ever tried to get a duck on the water again.

 

[Penpal]

Agree, once you let them in the water they will never come off. It would be better to get a children's pool, the largest you can find. You might need to put in a couple of fish because the mosquitos will lay eggs in the water and the fish will eat them.

 

[fordowner]

I wouldn't let them on the pond at all...if they're anything like my ducks (who I also raised in a brooder in my bedroom) treats will do nothing for them once they've tasted the glories of the pond. They simply will not come back on land until they want to, even if that's two days later.
The only way to keep them in the shallow water would be to build a fence (through the pond) and hope they don't fly over it.
There's also the possibility of snapping turtles killing or maiming them.
And once the ducks have learned that the pond exists, they will forever be trying to get into it.
So I think that if you want to keep your quackers safe(r), the best thing would be to keep them as far away from the pond as possible !

i was thinking of the fence idea myself. id keep them away from the lake, but their coop is getting soaked too quickly with a pool inside and the land surrounding is on a hill, so i would be unable to put a kids pool there unless i dug out into the hill.

 

[fordowner]

I don't think there's a solution besides not letting them swim in the lake, the depth of the water won't mean much to hawks, they'd likely be safer in deep water.
I can't say I've heard of hawks snatching adult ducks off a pond, but if you're that concerned, make a big covered run and add a pond in there

keeping them in shallow water is more so that id be able to stand on the dock and be able to intervene if anything attacks them. there would still be enough room for them to dive under i believe. im thinking ill put up a fence around the area id like to keep them in. id keep them from the lake and have a pool outside their pen (pool inside is getting way too messy) but the land surrounding the pen is a hill, so id have to dig out into the hill to put a pool there, which would be too much strain on me.