Is it OK to hose the girls down?

[audioguy]

Not really spray them directly with a hose, but can I water them a little to keep them cool. They look distressed, as I do in this blazing heat (115 heat index today).
They have shade and fresh water, but its still very hot no matter what!

My hose end has a gentle sprayer for watering plants. Looks like a small shower head. Every time I fill the water, I tend to spill some and they all go for the puddle that is left behind.

The girls are 12 weeks old and look to have all their feathers. Dont most birds like water to wade in?

Thanks

 

[onthespot]

I spray my runs down. and I spray the girls too if they look like the need cooling off. They jump and squawk but they look cooler than they were before I sprayed them, within a minute or two. Keep the spray as fine as possible for least upset to the birds. Good luck in the heat! Whew!

 

[Elite Silkies]

I spray the runs down, on top of the coop, the sides of the coop and I mist the birds too. Some like it, and will stand there, and the others run for life.

 

[dewey]

Misting them down really cools them off for quite a while.

 

[twistedwire]

I rigged up a hose and a sprayer for two of my horse pens, and my chickens stood in it

 

[yinepu]

I have a bunch that come running when they see me with the hose.. they're worse than my ducks.. they will stand in the water spray and flap their wings

 

[hannakat]

I've been trying to find out about misting the chickens. We deal with high humidity and I fear making them hotter. Anyone successfully misting in the more humid areas of the country?

 

[kichohana]

I am sad that I lost a chicken today and I am sure it was the heat.

She was fine this morning. Gave them 1/2 cold cantaloupe to eat an help keep cool. Was gone all day running errands and came home to find her dead - curled up in the corner of the coop. Eyes shut and everything. I feel horrible I didn't do more to keep them cool. Part of their run is sun, but more than 2/3 is shaded.

I turned on a sprinkler for the rest of the girls and although they didn't run through it like gleeful children, I could see that it cooled off the temps in the run significantly and they stopped panting so heavily. I also gave them 1/2 a chilled watermelon and filled up their auto-waterer with ice.

I may set up a sprinkler/misting hose through their run for tomorrow and the next few days. I think they appreciated the cool mist of the sprinkler this evening.

Betsey - rest in peace.

 

[Capvin]

We live in Central Florida and it is high humidity all the time. I use misters every day during the heat of the summer and my chickens like and it keeps them cool. Without I would have very unhappy and hot chicks.

 

[goldfinches]

Quote:
I use a mister sometimes. They don't seem to really care if it's on or not. I used it in front of a fan the other day, they may have liked that a little more? What they really like is when I turn the sprinkler on their run, soak the ground and their trees a little. It doesn't seem to bother them, even though I'm in a really humid area, about 15 minutes from the ocean. They love to dig down into the wet dirt after the sprinkler is turned off.