A Cedar Coop - Safe?

[paceysgl5]

I thought Cedar could be very harmful towards chickens? Looking at this as an add-on/Silkie coop -

http://providence.craigslist.org/grd/2232035728.html

 

[patandchickens]

This comes up a lot.

Bottom line, the evidence for actual chickens being actually-harmed by cedar shavings bedding is not overwhelming (it seems to be a rare occurrance and mainly associated with insufficient ventilation)/ And in any case cedar LUMBER is a different species of cedar that what the bedding shavings are from.

Basically, to be on the safe side, if the thing smells strongly like a cedar closet then you should either air/age it til it doesn't, or I suppose you could paint or otherwise seal it if it's super bad and you're in a hurry.

Otherwise, no problemo.

You should have good ventilation *anyhow* (note that many of those commercial coops don't really have very good ventilation, I haven't looked at that particular link tho), for other reasons.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Dogfish]

No problems with my cedar coop.

 

[elmo]

If you can't smell it, it's not a problem. Now, I wouldn't go building a chicken coop with that aromatic cedar they sell for cedar closets, though.

Pine shavings can also be a problem if you can smell that overwhelming piney odor from them because that's an indication of the presence of pine oil, which is the irritant.

http://www.ratfanclub.org/pine&cdr.html

I notice that the bagged shavings they sell at Petco now are marked "white wood" and have no odor at all.

 

[OkChickens]

I agree with Pat, Cedar in wood shavings is not the same product as lumber. Cedar used for a coop is fine. On the other hand that ad says that coop will hold 25 Bantys. There is no way that coop could hold 8-10 bantys let alone 25. The sq footage needed would be around 60 sq ft on the low side. There is no way that coop is a 6x10 or even close. People try to up sell there stuff to make it look better than it really is. Good luck on your expansion of your coop and flock!

-Nate

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
the ad said 10 bantams and that the brooder will hold 25 bantam chicks. The brooder doesn't look like it is pictured though. Reading comprehension.

 

[OkChickens]

Sorry I meant 10 bantams instead of 25. I read the ad wrong. Sorry remember I'm from Oklahoma! Haha

-Nate

 

[paceysgl5]

hahaha yeah i thought 10 bantams would be pushing it too, i need to ask about the actual interior size. i'm also worried there's no insulation. our regular coop is fully insulated. we currently have 6 silkies that i'm thinking we'd like a separate coop for, so this *might* be big enough but i don't want to cram them in there. I'm thinking a min. of 3 sq ft each for a bantam? and I bet this coop isn't 4x5, probably more like 3x4.