Just thought I would mention something we found out as new pekin duckling parents. Our "babies" HUGE, BIG 4 1/2 week old babies, did not do well with the standard chicken water bucket system recommended by our tractor supply store. It was one big mess. They got their bills in there but half of what went in went out the other side of their bills and all over the place. Solution, we got a deep dish dog waterer (with several gallons of water on it). This is wonderful for them and they are able to duck their entire bill in and happy with much less mess.
Glad you figured that out. We use a watering station that is the bottom of a large plastic dog crate, with a few inches of sawdust pellets, and a 2 gallon stew pot to hold the water. Works great.
I use a chicken waterer and it works perfectly fine, but never use bowls they get it very very dirty. You have to change it every 2 hours they get it so dirty. A gallon chicken waterer cost like 5$ at tractor supply co.
