Cedar bedding?

[silkielover88]

I have heard not to use cedar bedding in my coops, I have always used pine. But I was always wondering about cedar to help keep the coop smelling nice in between cleanings. Is it ok? Or does anyone know anything else to keep the chicken smell to a minimum? My turkeys are even worse!

 

[Timily Farms]

It might keep your coop smelling nice, but it has finer dust particles so your birds will get respiratory problems from breathing it in. I always use pine shavings or straw or old hay that's not moldy just old and not good for food for bigger livestock snymore

 

[silkielover88]

Ok, I was just thinking of mixing a little in with the pine. I've always used pine, sometimes straw. Someone told me that it will make my chickens feathers fall out?

 

[Timily Farms]

A mix might be ok just straight cedar would be to much dust for your birds

 

[aart]

It's not the dust so much..... it's the aromatic oils tainting the air that can cause respiratory problems.
Pine smells great IMO....even those aromatics I apply moderately, not adding a ton at time.

If your coop smells, figure out why:

Is it wet in there...from spilled water, leaky roof/windows?
Do you have adequate ventilation so the moist ammonia laden air can get out of the coop?
Do you have sufficient space for the number of birds in the coop to manage the manure removal in a timely fashion?

 

[silkielover88]

It's defiantly well ventilated, I have the one window open at the far end of the barn. It gets cleaned out every other week. And there is well over enough room for the amour of birds I have. It does get some water around the water dish, I changed to rubber dishes for the winter in case is freezes. But we always clean that up and put barn dri on the floor.

 

[aart]

It's defiantly well ventilated, I have the one window open at the far end of the barn. It gets cleaned out every other week. And there is well over enough room for the amour of birds I have. It does get some water around the water dish, I changed to rubber dishes for the winter in case is freezes. But we always clean that up and put barn dri on the floor.

How big is space(feet by feet) and how many birds?
One window open may not be enough.

Is the floor dirt...and are you using pine shavings now?
Are you removing any poops from coop...or just letting them build up?

Might just need more pine shavings.
Sweet PDZ (zeolite mineral product marketed for horse stalls) might help with ammonia.

 

[azygous]

At the risk of sounding snotty, I sometimes wonder about the way people reason. If you don't remove accumulated poop except for twice a month, of course you will have a smelly coop.

I use pine shavings in my coop, changing them once a year for all new. But I use poop boards under the perches to catch the majority of the poop, and I scrape them and clean them every morning. I use tongs to grab any poop that has been deposited on the pine shavings. The coop remains as clean-smelling as when I first put in new shavings.

I completely understand that some people are content with just cleaning poop out every once in awhile, but it shouldn't be a mental stretch that the coop will naturally be smelly most of the time. Even with the deep litter method, the amount of poop generated just in a single night would be enough to make your eyes water if it simply remains until it gets worked into the bedding.

The only way to assure an odorless coop is to remove the poop!