Doubts about Pine Bedding

[TentativeHomesteader]

We were bopping along just fine with our first little batch of chicks, in a brooder with pine shavings as bedding, when a co-worker sent me this article--

https://www.forloveoflivestock.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings

How much credence should we give it?

If this is true, and pine shavings are bad for the chickies, what else can we use? We want it to be compostable. Are there advantages to straw vs. hay?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've used pine shavings for more than a decade now without problems.

 

[Folly's place]

I've used pine shavings for over 25 years, and it's been fine. Cedar, no. I've been in barns where peat is used, and can't breath in there! There are lots of choices available regionally that might work well, but here it's pine shavings, peat, straw, or hay.
Straw and hay, used alone, are a real mess, definitely not a good idea, IMO. Chipped wood is fine for a run, but not for little chicks. The pelleted bedding sold for horses is very dusty too.
I'll stick with the pine shavings, happily.
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use aspen shavings for nest boxes, mostly because I like the very large flakes that I can't seem to get with pine.

I also use mixed wood chips including cedar in both my coop and run. It's well aged out and there's no real scent to it any longer and I feel completely comfortable using it.

You can use straw if you prefer but it also has downsides - it holds moisture and can mold, and can harbor mites. But it might be a better choice if composting is a priority for you.

 

[Cryss]

I think the key here is a bit I’m quoting here that came directly from the site you posted.

”Unfortunately, all of the research on pine shavings toxicity has been conducted on mammals, not chickens.”

Pine shavings have been used as chick and chicken bedding for generations. I think that qualifies as a test on chickens.

 

[gtaus]

I have successfully used pine shavings for my small animals' litter and bedding for about 50 years and have never noticed any negative effects. I have used straw, but find that it gets too messy and smells bad fast. I have not tried sand.

In the past year, I have gotten into the deep litter method and my coop has about 10 inches of wood chips in it. I like the wood chips deep litter better than other methods I have tried. The chicken poo almost magically disappears into the deep litter and I have yet to notice any smell that could not be controlled with a bit of fresh wood chips. If/when you clean out the wood chip deep litter, you can certainly use it in your compost pile.

I have a couple wood chippers at home, mostly for yard clean up, but I found our local county landfill has a place for commercial arborists to dump their wood chips. I can get all the free wood chips I could ever use.

I read the article you posted, but I really have a hard time believing that pine shavings are unhealthy tor animals. It just does not comport with my personal experience over many years of using pine shavings successfully.

 

[TentativeHomesteader]

Thank you all for your input. I need to read more about deep bedding, I think, and look into mixed wood chips. We'll probably stick to pine shavings in our brooder for now, since it's hard to come up with a more practical option!

 

[aart]

How much credence should we give it?

Not much.
Tho they make some good points, I think it's an overreaction not to use them in your brooder or coop. Unless you've got a small brooder that's over-heated with not enough ventilation.

 

[Cryss]

I have successfully used pine shavings for my small animals' litter and bedding for about 50 years and have never noticed any negative effects. I have used straw, but find that it gets too messy and smells bad fast. I have not tried sand.

In the past year, I have gotten into the deep litter method and my coop has about 10 inches of wood chips in it. I like the wood chips deep litter better than other methods I have tried. The chicken poo almost magically disappears into the deep litter and I have yet to notice any smell that could not be controlled with a bit of fresh wood chips. If/when you clean out the wood chip deep litter, you can certainly use it in your compost pile.

I have a couple wood chippers at home, mostly for yard clean up, but I found our local county landfill has a place for commercial arborists to dump their wood chips. I can get all the free wood chips I could ever use.

I read the article you posted, but I really have a hard time believing that pine shavings are unhealthy tor animals. It just does not comport with my personal experience over many years of using pine shavings successfully.

I use wood chips in my run. Best stuff ever! It works best on top of dirt. I use pine shavings inside the coop because it has a wood floor coated with Blackjack 57. Is your coop a dirt floor?

 

[gtaus]

I use wood chips in my run. Best stuff ever! It works best on top of dirt. I use pine shavings inside the coop because it has a wood floor coated with Blackjack 57. Is your coop a dirt floor?

I built my coop on an old boat trailer, so it is about 2 feet off the ground. I covered the wood floor and 12 inches up the walls with cheap vinyl I got on sale from Menards. It actually cost me less to use the vinyl than buying Blackjack 57. Plus, I read a number of reviews that Blackjack 57 could dry out and crack in our -20F winter temps.

I get my wood chips for free, so that's what I decided to use in the deep litter in the coop. It has been working out even better than I had hoped. But I have also thrown in shredded paper and leaves into the coop litter and it all seems to work just fine. I use pine shavings in the nest boxes, and when I clean them out, I just dump the pine shavings on the deep litter.

Last summer, I dumped about 2 inches of wood chips in the chicken run after my chickens ate all the grass and there was nothing left but dirt. That worked out great, but in the fall I filled the chicken run up with leaves. Currently, I have about 12 inches of leaves in the chicken run and I am now adding fresh grass clippings to that after I mow the yard. The chickens are constantly scratching and pecking in the chicken run litter now that the snow is melted. I was concerned that leaves and grass in the chicken run would get nasty after a rain, but so far, the litter in the chicken run dries out faster than my lawn.

My longer term goal is to use the deep litter in the coop and the chicken run as either compost and/or mulch for the garden. To the OP concerns, I don't think sand would make a very good compost. I used straw when I had ducks, and that got really messy and smelly, but then again everything with ducks gets messy. Straw might work better with chickens and certainly that could be used as a compost or mulch.