Will a $10 mister from Home Depot drench the ground in my run?

[SilkieNation]

Apologies if this is answered somewhere else, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. I am getting a mister for my hens' run, which has a dirt floor. Is this thing going to turn the corner of the run into a mud puddle, or does the mist mostly evaporate before reaching the ground?

 

[cavemanrich]

The mister we use to cool people sitting on the patio, as well as the small children playing with it emits such small volume that it does not turn the sidewalk wet. You will only be using it during HOT weather, so I think you will not encounter much mud. Give it a try and place high so the evaporation process cools as much of the ambient air as is possible. Now understand that high is implied like at 6 or 8 feet off the ground. NOT 30, at which it would render itself useless.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[Blooie]

I do use this mister. It's this blue one on a bent base, right? As you can see, Ida thinks it was put in as her personal shower!



I use the deep litter method in my run, and yes, the ground does get wet around it. But it's just one small area close to the mister. Most of the water does evaporate as the mist spreads out. The problem comes in as the mist lands on things in the run - roosts, the edge of the dust bath bin, and it drips down the wire of the run itself and pools underneath. I keep the mister on the side of the run that is uncovered. So when it's not running, the sun and air dry that spot out very quickly. I think the little bit of mess is a small price to pay to ease the burden of coping with heat for the chickens. The girls that enjoy the direct mist pop up on the roost and sit right in it, those who are a little more picky about being wet still benefit from the cooled air.

 

[rides2far]

We bought a mister from Lowes (about $30.00). We ran it the length of the run. It makes a damp spot at the end, but otherwise has worked great for those 105/106 degree days. I turn it on at about 11:00 or 12:00, then off by 6:00. It is usually dry by the next am.

 

[aart]

Apologies if this is answered somewhere else, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. I am getting a mister for my hens' run, which has a dirt floor. Is this thing going to turn the corner of the run into a mud puddle, or does the mist mostly evaporate before reaching the ground?

Keep in mind that.....
if your climate is humid it will not produce as much of a cooling effect and may make the ground wetter due to reduced evaporation, than in a dry environment.

 

[shortgrass]

I do use this mister. It's this blue one on a bent base, right? As you can see, Ida thinks it was put in as her personal shower! I use the deep litter method in my run, and yes, the ground does get wet around it. But it's just one small area close to the mister. Most of the water does evaporate as the mist spreads out. The problem comes in as the mist lands on things in the run - roosts, the edge of the dust bath bin, and it drips down the wire of the run itself and pools underneath. I keep the mister on the side of the run that is uncovered. So when it's not running, the sun and air dry that spot out very quickly. I think the little bit of mess is a small price to pay to ease the burden of coping with heat for the chickens. The girls that enjoy the direct mist pop up on the roost and sit right in it, those who are a little more picky about being wet still benefit from the cooled air.

Lol, hey! I have that too, but MINE is purple The do love it; if that's the one you're getting, make sure the nozzles are screwed on secure; I turned mine on one day and one of the nozzles flew to the moon, so I had to fork out another 10 bucks for a new one just for the nozzle lol...

Keep in mind that..... if your climate is humid it will not produce as much of a cooling effect and may make the ground wetter due to reduced evaporation, than in a dry environment.

Agree... I'm in CO, dry dry dry land ha-ha... I wouldn't use it if I lived in say.... Florida...it would cause more problems than good upping the humidity that much.

 

[SilkieNation]

I didn't think enough about the misting when I bought the thing... I am in RI and it is going to get VERY humid and hot over the next week. The mister may not work and now I'm wondering if it could make things worse. I was going to place some pavers in the shady corner of the run so that my girls wouldn't be standing in mud (silkies + mud = scary mess!). They seem to be very sensitive to heat, so I'm worried. Maybe I'll try one, placed outside of the run. They will be cooler if they get a bit wet, correct, even if they are silkie sponges?

 

[aart]

I didn't think enough about the misting when I bought the thing... I am in RI and it is going to get VERY humid and hot over the next week. The mister may not work and now I'm wondering if it could make things worse. I was going to place some pavers in the shady corner of the run so that my girls wouldn't be standing in mud (silkies + mud = scary mess!). They seem to be very sensitive to heat, so I'm worried. Maybe I'll try one, placed outside of the run. They will be cooler if they get a bit wet, correct, even if they are silkie sponges?

Cooling by evaporation works on skin, but not feathers....so no, they will not be cooler if wet.
......and if the air is so humid that evaporation is very slow, that doesn't help much.

Feathers help keep the birds warm in winter by buffering the ambient air temps away from the body,
they can also help keep them cooler in the summer(to an extent), but wet feathers aren't insulative.

Give them lots of shade, cool water to drink and maybe a fan to keep air moving around them.
You might dampen the ground slightly int he shade as they will dig down and lay on the cooler earth.

 

[Blooie]

The mister works well here in the semi-desert area of Northern Wyoming because we are dry. Our local weatherman describes our humidity with phrases like, "It's downright crunchy out there." We even cool our homes with evaporative coolers (known as swampers) instead of air conditioning. So misters in a hot and humid climate probably would defeat the purpose.

 

[shortgrass]

Cooling by evaporation works on skin, but not feathers....so no, they will not be cooler if wet.
......and if the air is so humid that evaporation is very slow, that doesn't help much.

Feathers help keep the birds warm in winter by buffering the ambient air temps away from the body,
they can also help keep them cooler in the summer(to an extent), but wet feathers aren't insulative.

Give them lots of shade, cool water to drink and maybe a fan to keep air moving around them.
You might dampen the ground slightly int he shade as they will dig down and lay on the cooler earth.

Agree A fan will help out MUCH more than the water...

The mister works well here in the semi-desert area of Northern Wyoming because we are dry.  Our local weatherman describes our humidity with phrases like, "It's downright crunchy out there."  We even cool our homes with evaporative coolers (known as swampers) instead of air conditioning.  So misters in a hot and humid climate probably would defeat the purpose.
   

And..yep. We use swamp coolers too...the mist doesn't even hitbthe ground most days; 100 degrees 5% humidity.. The most it does here is give me hope that it's evaporating into a rain cloud..

IMO, a fan for the chickens.., keep the mister for yourself though