Cedar coop?

[golfergirl07]

I am just starting with my backyard chickens. I have two pullets that are 3 months old this next week. I did order one of those coops from Amazon, and it's cedar. I have read that the cedar bedding is bad news, but have heard that the building materials should be ok? The last thing I want to do is hurt these little ladies! Any advice would be appreciated!!

 

[Dmontgomery]

Everybody says that the aromatic cedar shavings are bad for use as bedding because the fumes that make it smell good are also harmful to the chickens. I don't know what coop you ordered but it is not likely that it will hurt your girls. There are several different types of cedar and not all of them are aromatic. A lot of the privacy fences people have are made of cedar and put off no smell at all. Even aromatic cedar stops giving off any odor after a short period of time. I have quite a bit of it left over from making cedar chests and it doesn't smell like cedar unless I cut or sand the old wood to expose a fresh surface.
A cedar coop purchased off Amazon should be fine.

 

[golfergirl07]

Thank you for your quick reply! That is awesome to hear. I've been slowly putting it together over a couple of weeks, since I had to beef it up due to neighbor cats, possums and the occasional raccoon. It smelled like cedar some when I first opened it, but it's been outside the majority of the 2 weeks. Thanks for putting my worries at ease!

 

[golfergirl07]

Thank you! It has been outside for a couple of weeks as I have been slowly putting it together. It does smell like cedar some, but it has gotten weaker since I've taken it out of the boxes. Thanks for putting my worries at ease!

 

[aart]

Dmontgomery has explained cedar very well.

Hopefully there's decent ventilation on your coop, that's often one of the more critical detriments of prefabbed coop kits.
Ventilation is important for more than just the cedar aspect.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[golfergirl07]

Dmontgomery has explained cedar very well.

Hopefully there's decent ventilation on your coop, that's often one of the more critical detriments of prefabbed coop kits.
Ventilation is important for more than just the cedar aspect.

Welcome to BYC!

Thanks! There is one window, but I could rig something else up inside of the coop pretty easily. I've had to beef it up a lot, anyways