Asphalt pebbles in chicken coop?

[metalman488]

There are asphalt pebbles in the coop im fixing up. they are not fresh, they have been there mixed in the dirt for a long time. I was going to cover it all in pine shavings, then put my chickens in there. Is that safe for them.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

The bits of asphalt are toxic to birds if ingested. How much they would have to eat for adverse effects, I don't know.

 

[metalman488]

By bits of asphalt I mean the little rocks that are in the asphalt, just to be clear, and are you sure they are poisonous? They have been there under the dirt for probab;y around 10 years or more (the coop hasn't been used as a coop for that long too), so there isn't fresh tar or anything. My coop is about 25'x25' and a quarter of it is a small room that I think used to be a storage room. I was planning on putting my chickens in there first while I finished up the outside. I decided to till up the dirt in the storage room to help clean it, and after I had tilled half of it I realized there was a thin layer of asphalt right under it. I want to leave the rest that I haven't torn up yet, but there are lots of pebbles sitting around where I tilled it up. Can I just leave them there and put a layer of pine shavings over it all, or will that be dangerous for the chickens? Sorry for the long post.