Ceder shavings?

[missnu01]

I have found absolutely no studies to suggest Cedar is toxic to chickens.  I have never seen anything relating to this topic from any agency, manufacturer, university, lab, etc.  Apparently neither has McMurray:

http://blog.mcmurrayhatchery.com/2011/11/17/is-cedar-a-suitable-chicken-coop-building-material/

If this was a true fact there would have had to been SOME publication / USDA bulletin / etc between the 1800's and today.  Look at everything else that is covered so in depth in regards to chickens.  The only place I see anything about this is forums like these.

So while I can not say one way or the other I know I have cedar trees all over my property and it has not done anything to my poultry...

There's a difference in a cedar log and cedar shavings. Cedar is not very good for quite a few small animals. Bugs don't even like it. I think it is more that an animal can ingest small chips of cedar more easily than they will a cedar log, also a log will give off less than small chips will. Think about it hitch evaporates first, a large pan of water or a bunch of tiny drops of water. So the toxic phenols within the cedar shavings are released much more rapidly in larger amounts than the cedar is still in log form. More surface area means faster evaporation. And phenols in cedar are toxic. They can cause changes in liver functioning. Anyway just google cedar phenols. Or google are cedar shavings toxic. First thing I got was the humane society list of things to avoid. Cedar shavings being on the list. Pine shavings have them as well, but in lesser amounts. The pine smell is actually bad...so the pinier it smells the worse it potentially would be. Cedar shavings smell great, but at what cost...and it isn't a quick happening. Like you won't put cedar shavings on your hamster cage and the next day it's dead...but if you always use cedar shavings your hamster will die way sooner than it would have if you had used a different bedding choice. Etc. the phenols build up in the liver and eventually change the liver's ability to filter other toxins. That is fact

 

[missnu01]

Here are some links I found:

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/3150fact.pdf

http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/cedarwood_oil.pdf

There's 2 trying to paste links with an iPhone sucks, but if you look they are there. Most of the tests were done on humans and lab rats. The lab rats livers changed so that they were unable to properly process anaesthesia and other common antibiotics, in humans it caused respiratory issues including an increased risk of pneumonia...there haven't been studies on chickens, so it might not do anything, but knowing that it messes up rats and people is enough for most people to avoid using it for their pets regardless of species

 

[BrendaJ]

Cedar is bad, use pine or other options. Cedar isn't good for small animals in general ( rabbits, g-pigs, rats ect )

 

[countrygirl74]

I posted somewhere a while back and told my story about how I had picked up shavings and they gave me the wrong ones. It made ME sick just from driving around town in the car. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I called the actual manufacturer - looked like pine, was sold as pine, etc. Found out that cedar was mixed in but not labeled as such on the packaging. Immediately returned them all and made sure they gave me regular pine shavings. I figured at that point that if it was making it difficult for myself and my kids to breathe and getting headaches (with all the windows down in the car!), it wouldn't be good for my birds to be breathing in. Just my .02. I haven't actually done a lot of research on it.

 

[samygwin9]

I added some grass clippings and a tree branch in with the chicks too get them used to the outdoors whould tht be ok? pine shavings are in their as well!

 

[kada6305]

I gave mine a stick from the tree outside to perch on and grass clippings after about 4 days and they are still alive

 

[samygwin9]

thought it whould be fine but just wanted to make sure. can you say over protective?! lol

THIS THREAD HAS GOTTON A BIT OFF TOPIC SO I STARTED ANOTHER THREAD WITH ALL MY QUESTIONS! https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/764389/new-to-chicks-and-have-lots-of-questionsthought

 

[kada6305]

haha it's all good I was the same way too lol

 

[samygwin9]

ya this thread seems to be getting off topic. heres where i'll be posting all future questions can you take a look at it?https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/764389/new-to-chicks-and-have-lots-of-questionsthought