Chicks and cypress mulch

[cynthiaaaa]

With our coop underway, I’m getting impatient waiting to get some chicks. I had an idea that I can keep them in my greenhouse since I don’t currently have any plants in there, and is closer to a power source for the heat source. I’m wondering if the cypress mulch I have as the floor will be safe for the chicks. It’s been in there for a couple years so it’s not fresh, and they would be in a large metal dog cage with a plastic tray, so not in direct contact with it until they get bigger. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[AnnPann]

I've read that cypress mulch is OK, but your bag does says "blend." I've always had a hard time telling what it's blended *with* when I see that. I imagine it's just cheap hardwood filler, and they wouldn't put in cedar, because cedar is more expensive. That said, a lot of people use mulch they get from tree trimming companies or the city, and there's no telling what's in that. I would think by the time your chicks are running around your greenhouse and encountering the mulch, they'd have learned what's food and what's not anyway. I'd recommend something like pine flakes to cover the plastic tray though (not the mulch), just because it's softer for small chicks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think it should be fine, as it's aged so any aromatics should have already dissipated.