Cedar chicken coop- much less than what I paid for it

kees · Jun 9, 2008

I also posted yesterday about the cedar dog house (chicken coop) which is completely NEW (assembled 2 days ago) that I purchased to house the chicks. I paid $180 but would accept any reasonable offer now. I live in Putnam County, in the Hudson Valley in NY.

conny63malies · Jun 9, 2008

cedar wood is bad for the chickens health , sorry, not i good choice of lumber.

kees · Jun 9, 2008

I wouldn't use cedar chips but I've had the same dog house for over a year now and my silkies have done very well. I certainly respect your input though.

SundownWaterfowl · Jun 9, 2008

I have a playhouse coop made out of ceader, and my chickens are fine.

bugladyleah · Jun 9, 2008

I am not sure where you heard this, but I don't think that is correct. There are actually many sites that sell cedar specifically for poultry and I could find nothing online that would say it is dangerous for chickens. It is a naturally "weather resistant" material...probably better than using treated wood for building. I guess if a specific chicken had an allergy to it or something strange like that.....???

Anyway... I am no wood expert, just MHO.

Leah

tricia · Jun 9, 2008

Cedar is toxic only if they ingest it, which is why cedar shavings/chips aren't a good idea for litter. I think as long as they don't eat the coop they should be fine!

amazondoc · Jun 9, 2008

Cedar *shavings* can cause respiratory irritation in a variety of animals, in close quarters. However, I bet that solid cedar *wood* wouldn't give off as much in the way of volatile oil fumes. Just a guess!

Oblio13 · Jun 9, 2008

The "cedar" that's potentially harmful is actually a juniper (Juniperus virginiana). It's marketed as "Eastern Cedar", "Red Cedar", "Aromatic Cedar" and probably a few others.

The "Western Cedar", or "Western Red Cedar" usually used build sheds, saunas, etc is Thuja plicata.

Different critter, not a problem.