Automatic Chicken Watering Cup System

Over the past year, my wife and I tried our hand at raising backyard chickens for eggs.  We had a lot of fun, and learned a lot along the way, until our little chicken experiment came to an abrupt end shortly before the new year.  A predator (our research leads us to believe it was a raccoon or weasel) found a way inside the coop one night and killed the entire brood.  Since we don't plan to immediately acquire new chickens, I have decided to shut-down the website I started to chronicle our chicken adventures, and migrate some of the articles to this blog.  Below is such an article.  If you are interested in reading more about our experience raising backyard chickens, let me know in the comments below.  Thanks for reading.

The Watering System

Chickens are ironic creatures.  They require constant access to fresh, clean water, but given the first opportunity they will kick dirt and grass into it, walk in it, and even defecate in it if they happen to be standing in it when the urge strikes.  When we first started raising chickens, we used old pie tins as water dishes. These quickly proved inadequate as the chickens not only filled them with dirt constantly, but also walked in and on them so that they bent the sides down, spilling the water.  In a search for a more elegant solution, I came across Automatic Chicken Watering Cups on Amazon, and decided to give them a try. I’m glad I did, as they turned out to be an excellent way to keep clean water available for our chickens for days at a time.

Before I took the plunge and ordered my Chicken Watering Cups, I scrolled down to the customer reviews to make sure I wasn’t wasting my time and money.  It appeared that most of the negative reviews were from people that used these cups by mounting them directly into a bucket, or drilling the PVC themselves, and the result was a leaky watering system.  Another quick search on Amazon revealed a simple solution: Horizontal PVC T-Fittings with ⅛ inch female threads that were specifically designed to fit items with ⅛” threads like the Chicken Watering Cups.  Coincidentally, Chicken Water Nipples also have ⅛ inch male threads, so if you wanted to give those a try, you could use the same PVC T-Fittings.

Material List:

(1) Horizontal PVC T-Fittings with ⅛ inch female threads
(2) 5-Gallon Bucket*
(3) ½” PVC pipe (schedule 40)* 5 to 10 feet (depending on the measurements of your environment)
(4) ½” PVC Ball Valve
(5) Qty:3 ½” PVC 90 degree Elbow*
(6) ½” PVC Union*
(7) ½” PVC Threaded Female Coupler*
(8) Qty:2 ½” PVC Slip Female to Threaded Male Coupler*
(9) ½” PVC Threaded Cap*
(10) PVC Primer and PVC Cement*
(11) Silicone Caulk*
(12) Automatic Chicken Watering Cups

*Disclaimer: I purchased some of the items above at my local hardware store.  For your convenience I have included Amazon links to all items on the material list in case you would like to purchase everything at once and save a trip to the store. I have placed an asterisk next to the items that I did not purchase off of Amazon to make you aware, since I cannot vouch for their quality.  That being said, Amazon has an excellent return policy if anything you receive is not up to par.

My basic plan was to use a 5-gallon bucket as a reservoir, and to feed the water from the bucket to the watering cups with ½” SCH-40 PVC.  PVC is great for this project because is it durable, sun-proof, easy to work with, rigid enough to not need too much support, and most importantly, very inexpensive.

Below is a sketch of my layout, which also worked as my cut-list.  As I said before, your chicken environment will likely differ from mine, so your specific design and cut-list will also differ.  Just be sure to measure everything precisely. As the old saying goes: measure twice, cut once. If you have any questions about adapting my design to your environment, please ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer.

To begin, let’s drill the bucket.  The diameter of the male threaded end of the coupler (8) that goes through the hole in the bucket is slightly larger than 7/8″.  I used a 7/8″ spade bit to drill the bucket, and then widened the hole slightly with a knife, which shaved the soft plastic easily.

If you work with PVC all the time then you probably have a PVC pipe cutter, but if you don’t, there is no need to buy one unless you don’t own pretty much any other type of saw.  I used an upright bandsaw with a miter gauge to cut my PVC, but if you don’t have a bandsaw you can use a hacksaw, miter saw, or any saw that is made for wood or metal because PVC is relatively soft. To eliminate any possible confusion, after I cut each piece I used an ultra fine point Sharpie to write the length on each piece.

Once all the pieces are cut you will need to chamfer the edges by taking a blade and running it across the inside and outside edge of each length of PVC, removing any burrs left from cutting, and leaving a small 45 degree angle around both edges.  When all the pieces are ready it is a good practice to dry assemble the entire project to make sure everything fits as you planned it. Be sure to assemble the T-fittings so that the threaded receptacle will be parallel to the ground, or else your watering cup will end up tilted and the water will spill out.

At this point, while it is still dry assembled,  I like to use a sharpie to draw lines at each junction, originating on the joint, and continuing onto the length of the pipe for about an inch.  This ensures that once you apply the PVC primer and cement, you can align the pieces in the exact same orientation you did when they were dry-assembled.  It is easy to make a mistake while you are assembling the PVC, and once it is fused, there is no way to take it apart again. Be sure to draw the line at least one full inch up the PVC because once you add the primer and cement, the PVC will actually seat further up into the joint than when dry, and you want to make sure you can still see some of the line.

To bond the PVC together, first make sure you are in a well ventilated area.  While the primer and cement are both non toxic once cured, they are very toxic if inhaled.  You may also want to put down a drop cloth because the purple primer can stain. Apply two coats of the primer to both the inside of the joint, and the outside of the length of PVC with the provided applicator.  You can be fairly liberal with the primer, just be sure you don’t erase the entire length of line you drew to align the pieces because the primer will instantly erase the sharpie.

Next you will want to apply a liberal coat of the cement to the outside of the length of PVC and a thin coat to the inside of the joint.  To achieve this, I like to dip the applicator into the cement, and wipe off any excess on the rim of the can. First apply the cement to the outside of the length of PVC, then apply to the inside of the joint with what is left on the applicator, without dipping back into the can of cement.

As soon as the cement is applied, push the two pieces together, paying close attention to your sharpie marks to line up the pieces correctly.  While you hold them together for 30 seconds, the cement will actually melt the PVC, fusing the two pieces together. This creates a permanent bond that cannot be unwelded, which is why it is so important to make sure your pieces are lined up the first time.

Once you have repeated the process for the entire length of PVC you will want to let it cure for 24 hours.  At this point the cement and primer is 100% non-toxic, and cannot hurt you or your chickens, although I still like to flush the pipe out with water, just for piece of mind.

The section of PVC that attaches to the bucket does so mechanically by attaching the threaded male and female connectors specified in the drawing at the beginning of this section, but the seal will not be water tight.  Sealing the joint between the PVC and the bucket can be accomplished with a rubber washer or O-ring, but I simply used a silicone caulk to make the seal.

When installing the bucket and PVC in its final location, it will be necessary to raise the bucket up off the ground so that gravity will force the water through the entire length of pipe with enough force that the cups will fill up quickly when the yellow dongle is pushed or pulled.  Six 8”x8”x16” cinder blocks stacked two by two did the trick for me, setting the bottom of the bucket approximately 24” off the ground.

At this point the cap can be put on the other end of the PVC structure, and the cups can be screwed into the T-fittings.  Be sure not to over-tighten the cups on the T-fitting or they will leak. If you have leaks at the junction of the cup and the PVC when you test it out, try loosening the cup one turn to see if it solves the problem.

The part of the PVC with the cups should be fastened securely to some surface, such as the wall of the coop or the run, so that cups will sit about 6 inches off the ground.  The chickens will walk and perch on the PVC, so you want it to hold tight enough not to stress the joints. I found that two-hole conduit straps for ¾” EMT fit the ½” PVC perfectly, and hold it rigidly enough as to not allow it to bend under the weight of the chickens.  Plastic tie wraps (aka cable-ties or zip-ties) work well for additional support, but should not be used as the main supports because the sun will eventually cause them to turn brittle and break.

And that’s about it.  Connect the PVC sticking out of the bucket to the PVC attached to the run with the PVC Union, fill the 5 gallon bucket with water, and open the PVC valve.  You can then test the watering cups by pulling upwards slightly on one of the yellow dongles to see if the cup fills with water. If it does you’re in business.  Fill up all the cups so that the chickens can see the water, and let them at it. If they don’t start drinking out of it right away, try removing any other sources of water to force them to figure out how to use it.

We’ve had great success with the Automatic Chicken Watering Cups.  The smarter chickens in the bunch caught on immediately, and the rest of them figured it out not long after.  The one downfall of this system is that it won’t be able to be used after temperatures drop below freezing, but in this part of Virginia that will mean that it can be used for about 8 months out of the year, which is enough to make it worth it to me.

If you try this solution, let us know how it worked out for you in the comments.  Also, if you run into any problems building it, or getting it to work properly, feel free to leave your questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to help you out.