How do I keep my ducklings from drowning or becoming water logged in their water bowl?

Hi,I'm new to byc and have raised baby ducklings twice before.The first time I raised two Pekin ducklings I bought from a local feed store and nothing went wrong.But the last time I ordered 10 baby ducklings(4 rouen,3 blue swedish and 4 white crested)from Murray Mcmurray I did not know about grogel and they were flown practically across the United States. So when they arrived they were weak. We gave them a duckling/chick watered that looks like a upside down water bottle in a shallow dish with sugar water that is sold at almost any feed store and placed it in the corner of our tote/brooder. When we looked into the brooder the next day we found one of the blue swedish ducklings had drown overnight.Then one of our crested ducklings made the same mistake as our blue swedish the next day.Luckily the other ducklings(except for another crested duckling that died from being weak and sickly a victim of the long flight) lived. I just ordered 10 more ducklings from Metzer farm and they will be arriving in a month.I do not want to make the same mistake by buying that type of waterer again and ducklings make such a mess with their water I would like to find a inexpensive way to solve these problems. Does anyone have any suggestions or pictures of water containers that worked for them or that they created?

Take some rubber bands and put 3 or 4 over the bowl so they can still drink but won't be able to drown or get in the water.

Fill the bowl with marbles with just enough water to cover them...

Thanks guys, those are some great ideas. I was wondering though will the marbles block the ducklings from cleaning out their nares? I know that it is very important that they clean them out and I would not want to block them from doing it.

I have also seen people cut holes in containers so that the ducklings can only put their head into the makeshift waterer.But I'm worried that they will cut their necks on the sharp edges of the drinking holes when they are trying to lean into the water to dip their heads.

I highly recommend this! Works like a charm!

jewlsflock4ever said:

Thanks guys, those are some great ideas. I was wondering though will the marbles block the ducklings from cleaning out their nares? I know that it is very important that they clean them out and I would not want to block them from doing it.

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Don't pack the marbles tight, allow enough wiggle room so the duck can push their bill down into the water between marbles, but not so much wiggle room that they 'fall' into the water...

AmandaVirginia said:

I highly recommend this! Works like a charm!

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This looks like a great duckling waterer! I think im going to use this idea for when my ducklings arrive . Did you have any trouble with them tipping it over And since i orderd ten ducklings do you guys think i should cut more than two holes in mine?

Thank You everyone for your input i still would love to see any other nifty duckling waterers!

AmandaVirginia, i would also like to know if you had to teach your ducklings to put their heads through the holes or if they caught on as soon as you put it in their brooder? Again thank you all so much for your help!

jewlsflock4ever said:

This looks like a great duckling waterer! I think im going to use this idea for when my ducklings arrive . Did you have any trouble with them tipping it over And since i orderd ten ducklings do you guys think i should cut more than two holes in mine?

Thank You everyone for your input i still would love to see any other nifty duckling waterers!

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I originally used the same waterer as you with marbles in it, so thankfully I've never had any drown but the mess they made was unbelievable! By the way, I'm so sorry for your losses ): Not only do they make absolutely no mess with their waterer now, it's like a little jungle gym for them! They've never tipped it over and they climb all over it! I could sit there and watch them all day, it's very entertaining! And, I would make 5 holes for 10 little ones!