Why the water matters as much as the feed
A duck eating dry pellets does something a chicken never does: she dunks, sips and rinses constantly, clearing her nostrils and bathing her eyes in the water beside her food. Without water deep enough to submerge her whole head, feed packs into the nostrils, eyes get sticky and gummed, and swallowing dry ration becomes hard work. A pond is the luxury version of this, not the requirement — a sturdy bucket or trough, deep enough for a full head-dip and heavy enough not to tip, does the job perfectly well on a pond-free setup.
Choosing the ration: waterfowl feed, not chicken feed
Ducks need more niacin than chickens, and chicken feed is not built to supply it; ducklings raised on plain chick crumbs can develop weak, bowed legs from the shortfall. Feed a purpose-made waterfowl or duck ration at each life stage — starter for ducklings, grower, then a maintenance or layer diet for adults — and let the bag, not habit, set the stage changes. Adult ducks also do well with grazing and greens alongside the ration: chopped lettuce, peas thawed from frozen, and access to grass give them the foraging their feeding behaviour is built around. Grit should be available if they are not ranging ground where they can pick their own.
Setting up the feeding station without a pond
Place the feeder and the dipping water side by side on ground that drains — a patch of gravel, slabs or coarse woodchip beats bare earth, which ducks turn into soup within days. Set the bucket on a stand or surround it with a low frame so bedding and muck are not kicked straight in. Feeding some of the ration scattered in a shallow tray of clean water slows down a greedy drake and gives shy birds a fairer share. If the flock includes birds of different sizes, two stations a few metres apart stop the boldest ducks from owning the only breakfast in the pen.
Keeping it clean enough to stay healthy
Head-dipping water is filthy within hours — that is the deal, and the routine has to absorb it. Tip, scrub and refill the bucket at least daily, twice a day in warm weather, and wash feeders often enough that old pellets never sit damp and mouldy underneath fresh ones. A duck with a dirty, mattered eye or a duck who has gone quiet at feeding time deserves a close look the same day, and persistent eye or breathing trouble means a vet visit rather than another week of watching. On KinsLe, the refill and scrub round sits on the flock's Care Teams list, so the least glamorous job in duck keeping is the one nobody assumes somebody else has done.