I have ducks and they ALWAYS live in a wet pen if you just give them water..what i do is give them water in the morning in their pen, then i get ready for work, then in my case, my ducks have an outside pen, which the bottom is grass (this is what i keep them in prior to them being fully feathered and able to be out on the lake) I let them in the pen during the day, give them water and food..they seem to not make quite the mess out there, they forage and lay in the grass and sun, rather than what they do in the pen which is just play in the water out of boredom till all the water is soaking their bedding and they're wet and smelly. While they're in the pen outside, i dump the wet bedding and let the pen dry out. I leave them outside until it's nearly dark with food and water. When i bring them in to their pen, I do not put more water in the pen, so they can sleep in a nice dry bedding..because honestly, all they'll do is soak the bedding, they aren't so much drinking it as they are playing in it..and at night they sleep, so they don't really need water for a few hours. At least in my case, that's what i do. I, like you have tried every different kind of waterer out there..even the ones where all they can do is get their beak in ..and they somehow just flood the cage..just keep drinking and playing until the bottle of water is empty..if it's a gallon size, then they dump a gallon of water..if it's a quart they dump a quart..there is not other way to do it, i've found than giving them ample access to the water during the day..then cleaning the pen right at dark and not putting water in at night...
