Cedar shavings bad for chickens

[NorthernChick1]

Ive been using cedar shavings that has been given to lauer on my coop floor as well as in my brooder box. I just found out today that cedar shavings are toxic to chickens? Nothing has happened to any of my flock. Im just curious for opinions and find out if there are actual consequences to using this as it works great in winter.

 

[sdm111]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ch...ovement/bedding-for-your-chickens?hs_amp=true

 

[sylviethecochin]

I looked into this a while back. What I found was a study that found that cedar bedding was poisonous to rat babies raised in it (led to a low percentage of the litter dying) while pine bedding was not poisonous.

I think it's mostly only poisonous to small, delicate animals keeping their faces in it, because I could not find a study showing that it harmed adult rats or chickens. This was over a year ago, mind you.

(Posted before I was ready. Sorry.)

 

[Folly's place]

Cedar shavings, as sold in bags at the pet store, are not good for critters who live in them, like rodents, and not so good for chickens either, with their delicate respiratory systems. Some cedar shavings at the bottom of a well ventilated coop are probably okay, but pine is much safer, and less expensive too. Use the pine instead, or dry leaves, or what is locally available.
Mary

 

[gtaus]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chickenwhisperermagazine.com/the-chicken-movement/bedding-for-your-chickens?hs_amp=true

You know, I thought I have read in many places not to use cedar shavings as litter due to the smell/off gassing of the cedar chips. The link you provided seems to state that the jury is still out on that issue, but to be safe, the article states it's best to let the cedar shavings air out for a week before adding them to the litter.

@NorthernChick1, I love the smell of cedar, so if it does not harm the chicks, that would be a great choice for litter. This past spring, for my brooder litter, I used fresh wood chips I chipped up in my little 14 amp Sun Joe chipper. That chipped wood also smelled very good, but definitely not as strong as cedar. All I did was throw in a little more wood chips and/or stir up the litter every 3-4 days. At the end of 8 weeks, I had about 6 inches of deep litter built up in my brooder, but it still smelled good and I never had to clean out the wood chips. At the end of my 8 weeks in the brooder, I used those wood chips as mulch out in the gardens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is a copy/paste from a comment I made on a previous thread, based on my own experience, but relevant here:

I have cedar chips in my chip mix (can't be avoided around here... if you chip fallen branches, you'll have cedar mixed in) and I use aged chips in both coop and run. I brooded my last batch of chicks out in the run too. The chips work just fine for me and I've never had any chicken show any signs of respiratory issues.

I would probably avoid using all cedar, or fresh cedar (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). My coop is well over recommended ventilation plus has a high ceiling for added air volume.

The one place I'd absolutely avoid cedar would be around small pet rodents like rats, which are already prone to respiratory ailments.

 

[sdm111]

Bad or should I say unsubstantiated information runs rampant on this site. It is said cedar is toxic amongst other answers to questions but stops short to provide any proof. Pine shavings are used a lot for bedding here but the amount of dust it makes cannot he good for a chickens respiratory system. That's my actual experience with pine shavings. And if brooded inside the dust is horrible I could never do that I only use wheat straw it repels water and is not dusty that's my actual experience with it

Straw not to be confused with hay which is terrible bedding as it holds moisture and molds and rots

 

[SueT]

There are many varieties of cedar. It is the eastern aromatic cedar that people assume is bad. Since we've cut some of those trees for firewood, cedar shavings have many times been in the mix of bedding in the coop, with no ill effects. We built the wooden part of our coop from western red cedar. No ill effects from that either.

 

[Phillyndilly]

I use straw too we actually stopped using the shavings because of something we read but I was thinking about using a layer on the bottom to catch more poop. Straw is easier in my opinion and it takes less to be warm and cushiony. It’s cheap too we found it on Craigslist cheaper someone used it as seating for a party and wanted to get rid of it, 2 bucks a bale!

 

[aart]

There are many varieties of cedar. It is the eastern aromatic cedar that people assume is bad. Since we've cut some of those trees for firewood, cedar shavings have many times been in the mix of bedding in the coop, with no ill effects. We built the wooden part of our coop from western red cedar. No ill effects from that either.

Yes....and it can be bad.

Depends on how fresh, the concentration(mixed with other bedding), the ventilation, etc.
Just like with most things, moderation and some common sense go a long way.