Cedar????

[kstaven]

Fumes from the oil in cedar is a respiratory irritant.

Just wanted to add that the "oil itself" is a known toxin if ingested.

 

[GwenFarms]

Its fine to build a coop out of ceder. Its when they are made into shaving that you have problems. The oil that is released is toxic.

 

[redoak]

Cedar that is just milled and not dry before you use it will also give most critters including humans respiratory problems. Of course some individuals are more sensitive then others.

 

[mipsy6]

Can someone tell me a source for the information that cedar chips are bad for chickens? I haven't been able to find it anywhere other than this message board, including the Chicken Health Handbook or Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. In fact, the book Keep Chickens by Barbara Kilarski actually recommends using cedar shavings for bedding--and the author says thats what she uses for her backyard flock.

Thanks!

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I use cedar no problems. I used pine once had dead BIRDS.

 

[RoostersCrow]

Unfortunately much of the information available circulates as post scientific document discussions and assessments. However, a number of these point to some actual lab studies.

To research this further you might start here and chase down some links. This article references, non-specifically, some purported lab studies showing impacts on liver fucntions.

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guineapigs/a/woodshavings.htm

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, the concept of 'cedar bad for respiratory health of poultry' is out there in a gajillion places on the Web, for what that's worth... including a bunch of advisories from veterinarians, etcetera. (Not just for poultry, either... for all small animals, incl rodents ferrets etc).

I don't know of an Actual Scientific Study on it. However, there are any number of things in life about which no Actual Scientific Study has been bothered to be done, no big deal, one makes one's decisions based on the information that does exist.

The information that does exist, AFAIK, is basically this:

The aromatic oils in cedar (and other aromatic softwoods) are a well-documented irritant to mammalian lungs; for instance look at
http://www.trifl.org/cedar.html (emphasis on human health) and the references therein. I see no reason to offhand expect it to be much different for bird lungs, as the tissues (tho not the structure) are pretty similar.

There is much anecdotal evidence of cedar bedding *sometimes* being bad for mammalian pets, birds and poultry.

THere are also people who say they've used it for umpty years and never seen a problem. It is quite possible that the diffrence among peoples' experiences has a lot to do with variation among sources/lots of shavings, and variation in coop ventilation.

You have to make your own choice. But to me it is pretty clear that all things being equal it is safER to avoid cedar (or any wood shavings that smell very resinous or aromatic).

As far as Gail Damerow's two books not mentioning it, I would like to say that there are MANY MANY inaccuracies and omissions in her "Chicken Health Handbook", and while the ones I've noticed are not of great consequence they are still certainly THERE, so while I personally regard both books as very helpful and valuable, they are very much NOT the last word on chicken biology to say the least. (And should probably have been proofread by an avian vet or biologist, harrumph).

Regards,

Pat