Chickens and misters

[Eggscaping]

Was looking at a review of a flexible mister today with an eye toward hummingbirds, as last summer in Portland, hummers would dive down to bathe in the hose spray when I was hand-watering the ferns with a mist setting. I saw this review:
"Here in Oklahoma it gets really, really hot. I have black backyard chickens who were really looking like they were suffering, so I bought this mister for use in the chicken pen to cool the area for them. It has worked like a charm! The chickens are now up and about, scratching and digging and clucking, and they are obviously more comfortable. I've noticed a tremendous difference in the temperature."
Now, I thought that chickens bathed in dust only - not enjoying being wet. Anyone else give their chickens a mister, and if so, did they actually "use" it, as in, went into or stayed in the area of the misting?

 

[BlueBaby]

Every breed is different. I had Black Australorp's before, and they used to stand under the mister's. Of course the feather's on them started looking bad from all of the water, and you have to keep those little nozzle's that the water mist's out of cleaned out, or they will get clogged up.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I haven't used a mister because in my climate it's stifling heat and humidity already but I have hosed their favorite dust bathing spots and they love a good dust bath in the cool moist dirt!

 

[azygous]

It appears Lakeside is near the ocean. Is that correct? If so, you probably have a humid climate. Misters would add to the humidity and the chickens would end up wet. Not good.

Before I retired to Colorado, I lived in the desert. It would average 117F in the shade for much of the summer, which was nine months long. Misters were a pretty standard implement in outdoor eateries, and all places that raised animals had them. When I ate at a restaurant where a mister was going, it was cool and pleasant, but at no time did I feel the wetness because the air was so arid, the mist would evaporate before it touched us.

So, my point is, unless your climate is dry enough for the mist to evaporate before it settles on your chickens, it's going to create an uncomfortably wet environment for them, and could possibly be unhealthy.

I've toyed with getting a mister for my chickens since my climate is very arid, but my water is too expensive for me to use it in this manner. What I do instead is to sprinkle down my run, which is sand. This lowers the temperature in the run from 90F to 80F immediately as evaporation takes place. The chickens also enjoy dirt bathing in the damp sand, further cooling them.

I suggest you do a little more research to decide if your humidity is low enough to handle a mister before you buy one and find it's just making things more uncomfortable.

 

[Eggscaping]

I suggest you do a little more research to decide if your humidity is low enough to handle a mister before you buy one and find it's just making things more uncomfortable.
[/QUOTE]

No, no....thank you for your input, but I wasn't going to get one for our flock...I was simply curious about whether other peoples' chickens actually used them that way.

Any mister I get will go on top of the pergola to mist the plants that will grow up on it - in the hopes that I have the delightful experience of seeing hummingbirds taking baths in the mist and wet vegetation again. So cute!