I know this is bad for small animals (rabbits, cavies, etc) but is it bad for use as chicken/duck bedding?
I have read that the odor causes respiratory issues with chickens and other fowl. I therefore use pine shavings from the local feed/seed store
As a main coop bedding, do not use cedar; too aromatic. If you use it to sprinkle underneath whatever you use in your nests, whether pine shavings or straw, just a handful or two, to dissuade bugs in there, it's fine. If you throw a few handfuls under the roost in your pine shavings and have good ventilation, it's fine. To completely fill the coop with it would not be advisable. To use with chicks, also not advisable.
Thanks everyone. That is what we were thinking, but we have a BUNCH of leftover cedar shavings from a project, and wanted to see if we could put them to use instead of throwing them away.
Hi, I would suggest doing a search on BYC for "cedar" and you'll find a plethora of threads on it. It's pretty much been beaten to a pulp. You can even use me as an "Author" to perhaps get more specific results. Bottom line for me: I've used it for years and had NO problems. Even mistakenly used 100% new cedar chicks in a 4x8' chick house with new chicks and had NO problems. Not only do I not have any respiratory or other health problems and so many claim can happen but I also don't have a lice or mite problem either. God Bless,
If you don't want to use them in your coop, you can use them in your run no problem. I use wood chip of all types in my run and it works really well to keep it clean and dry. And the chickens love to dig through the stuff, especially after it has sat around a bit and gotten buggy...
Respiratory problems are just the most obvious symptom. There are other things going on that aren't visible. Basically you are slowly poisoning anything around cedar shavings. Eventually liver and other internal organs will begin to have problems. Just because you don't see it only means you are keeping the levels just low enough to not get the more obvious respiratory symptoms. Using cedar outside occasionally probably wouldn't give enough exposure to do any harm. I would not put it in any buildings and I would not use enough of it that you can smell it all the time. That smell is toxic oils you are breathing in to your lungs.
Quote:I also used 100% cedar when brooding chicks in the basement, not knowing it could possibly cause problems. It really cut down on the smell and we have had no issues. I recently added the half remaining sack to the winter coop, and it smells a lot better to me, but the roosters are sneezing. Likely it is coincidence, it was only half a sack in a well ventilated area. I suspect that used in moderation is unlikely to be harmful. Mix them in with some pine and see how it goes.
