I switched to the pine shavings yesterday. So far I have found that they do a way better job of controlling the odor, compared to the straw I was using before. Only problem is, the 11-day old ducklings seem to be occasionally eating the shavings. At first I was very concerned, but after searching this forum I found that several people reported the same thing, and it may be that they are just "tasting" it. And I really can't say for sure that they are fully ingesting the shavings. For the moment, I will continue to observe them and hopefully they will discontinue "tasting". These shavings are really small and soft, but I saw some at a farm supply store here that seemed quite a bit larger. They seemed like they wouldn't be as soft for the duckies as the shavings I am currently using, but if they keep eating them I might have to try the bigger shavings.