Are Water Cups as Magical as Pinterest Claims?

by Kim Ellsworth

I have one hen who insists on putting her poop encrusted feet inside every food and water bowl I give her. 

Her name is Punky Brewster, after the mischievous 80s character. 

The problem is always the same: Brewster insists on cleaning her feet in the community trough. Worst of all, she manages to knock it over almost every time, even at times when it’s secured between bricks. When will she learn? Or better yet, when will we learn? 

So we tried incorporating the popular water cup option. It failed! But we have more than Brewster to blame for this one.  

Shopping for Supplies 

To prepare I scoured Pinterest for ideas, and everything looked similar. 

Basically, you buy the water cup, attach it to the base of a water bucket, make it easily accessible, and it’s magically the best thing since sliced bread. People claim that these little cups give their hens clean water for days, and with that in mind I went shopping to purchase two items: 

• 1) The feed store sold a pack of 3 cups for less than $10 
• 2) Home Depot sold a 5-gallon food grade bucket and lid for less than $10 

For less than $20 my hens would soon be living in royalty. Plus, I could stop fearing that the hen-version of Child Protective Services would take my ladies away for deplorable living conditions. It was a win-win! 

Creating the Contraption 

Luckily I’m married to a construction-minded man, so I raided his tools for a ⅜” drill bit and a power drill. 

The water cup screws into the bucket at either the outside base or just underneath the ledge. I opted for underneath the ledge, because the hens could suck it down to the last drop. The point was to make life easier right? 

After eyeing where I wanted the cup to fit, I plugged a bit into the drill, and within three minutes my water cup bucket was born. I filled it nearly to the brim, piled cinder blocks inside the chicken run to raise it off the ground, and plopped it down. 

Now, I just needed the hens to love it! 

Helping the Hens 

All over the internet you’ll find the same question: how do I get my hens to drink from their water cups? 

You’d think, with so many people struggling at that time, I might have gotten the hint. But, I had stars in my eyes as I drilled my ⅜” hole, and I also had big dreams when I crammed the first hen’s beak into the tiny cup. 

Apparently they need a little coaxing. After all, my hens were used to poop encrusted water troughs. 

Each time I crammed a head into the mini bowl to demonstrate that with just a flick of the beak water would magically appear forever, the hen would back away in fear. Nothing like starting a beautiful hen and water cup relationship with a bit of coercion. 

I even tried taking away their open water trough in hopes that they’d figure it out, and to ensure that they did I dropped a little water in their water cup to get them started. Nothing! Those pointy beaks maneuvered right around the valve while slurping the last drops, and once the cup was emptied they scurried away. 

Realizing the Reality 

It was a failure, and Brewster isn’t the only one to blame!  

All five ladies ran away during lessons, and then all five sucked the water dry without touching the water release valve. That’s impressive! 

When the head flock lady learns the water cup trick, then likely the whole flock would follow suit, but that just didn’t happen. 

At this point I had to choose between hens who feared operating water cups on their own and hens who lost their water to the mischievous Brewster. So, I placed the water cup contraption in storage and brought the trough back out. 

What Finally Worked 

I wasn’t about to let Brewster and the other ladies win, so I jumped back on Pinterest and went in search of more ideas. I settled on the popular gravity-filled poultry waterer.  

This new system has truly been a win-win! While poopy feet keep dipping, at least the water dilutes the crusties while simultaneously satiating the hens. The best part is how easy it is to clean. All I do is flip the unit upside down to dump the dirty water, and then I flip it right side up again to let it fill. One more go of this method, and it looks as good as new. 

Sometimes buying ready-made items is just as smart as making them yourself! 

While buying two of these systems would be the best thing to do, I have yet to toss the water trough. Maybe it’s the allure of knowing that I’m a good hen mom because I’m constantly cleaning. 

Either way, the hens are happy with their one water palace and their one crusty foot bath.