Chopped Straw - Where do I find it?

[The Yakima Kid]

Cedar shavings are not a problem according to the Oregon State University poultry science professors. There are a lot of myths out there. Cedar shavings were popular in floor raised operations, right along with poultry peat. Chicken Health for Dummies agrees with Oregon State University that cedar shavings aren't a problem.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Cedar shavings are considered safe for chickens by the Oregon State University poultry scientists in the animal science department. The new Chicken Health for Dummies book shares this opinion. It's an old wives tale that would have shocked poultry men who were floor raising chickens in the old days; when affordable, they were very popular.

 

[scrambled freud]

If your heart is set on chopped straw, I found some this spring (it wasn't cheap) in the yard/garden section of Rural King. It was being sold as dressing to put over grass seed when putting out a new lawn. It came in formed, compressed bales, wrapped in plastic. We put the leftovers in the coop, I think, but we are wood chip people by and large.

 

[LoneOak]

I've been using wheat straw in my coop for years with no problems. It isn't chooped just regular dry straw used for covering grass seed in new landscapes. I have never been able to afford pine shavings, its hard to pay over $5.50 for a bale when I can get a larger bale of straw for $4.25. Rake it occassionally and it doesn't get to clumped up and I have never had it mold. I have had pine shavings get wet and start cooking, stuff got real hot before I noticed it and removed it, straw doesn't do that.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Cedar shavings are NOT harmful to chickens; they have been used for generations in the Pacific Northwest. Feel free to call and ask the poultry scientists at Oregon State University, or just read the new "Chicken Health for Dummies" book if you don't believe me.

 

[JacobMaxwell]

Cedar shavings are NOT harmful to chickens; they have been used for generations in the Pacific Northwest. Feel free to call and ask the poultry scientists at Oregon State University, or just read the new "Chicken Health for Dummies" book if you don't believe me.

Finally, somebody who agrees with me!

I used cedar shavings for more than a year with no problems, and I've never understood these crazy fantasies about them being harmful.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I have had great luck with plain old landscaping wood chips in my chicken run; unlike mulch bark they don't tend to hold moisture and get damp. They are cheaper than shavings, so I only use shavings in the house.

Softwood landscaping wood chips placed in a coop and raked over every couple of weeks will slowly decompose in place; I like to take mine out once a year and put them around my fruit trees, renewing the mulch and doing a lot of my fertilizing at the same time. At around six months in the cycle, I top them off. I've let the same batch go with occasional additions for nearly two years with no problems; unfortunately I had a outbreak of leg mites, so I wound up cleaning them out and spraying the premises with a Neem oil solution. I cleared it out, hit it with Neem oil, laid in fresh shavings, and then hit it every week for a month with the Neem oil and treated the birds concurrently. Worked great.