My new coop

[aart]

Definitely do a lot of research BEFORE putting any cedar in the coop.

It is very irritating to chicken lungs with its naturally occurring pest resistance properties.

I do not recommend cedar inside any coop.

Aromatic cedar shavings in bags marketed for small animals I would avoid.
But...
Cedar lumber is usually fine.....and cedar chips might be fine too.
DEPENDING on what kind of cedar.
Not all cedar is the aromatic type.

 

[trainman]

I wouldn't use cedar as everything I've ever read about chickens has said to definitely not put it in the coop or nest boxes. Shame as I have 20 acres with about 30% cedars and would LOVE to run every cedar tree through my chipper/shredder!

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

Have never heard of 'washing' wood shavings to re-use them.

If you have enough wood shavings, don't bother. I actually experienced it when I can't find any around. by the way, I'm actually pertaining to the rough shavings. not the powder like shavings. that's gonna be difficult to clean I imagine.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

Aromatic cedar shavings in bags marketed for small animals I would avoid.
But...
Cedar is usually lumber is fine.....and cedar chips might be fine too.
DEPENDING on what kind of cedar.
Not all cedar is the aromatic type.

Wood shavings are a really good option for chicken coop bedding. You absolutely need pine wood shavings, and not cedar shavings (cedar oils and scent can be toxic to chickens). Go for large flake wood shavings, over fine shavings (too dusty) and don't use sawdust (way too dusty and damp). <---- This I discovered too late..

 

[rosemarythyme]

I wouldn't use cedar as everything I've ever read about chickens has said to definitely not put it in the coop or nest boxes. Shame as I have 20 acres with about 30% cedars and would LOVE to run every cedar tree through my chipper/shredder!

Obviously if you're not comfortable with it, don't use it, but I've been mixing in cedar for the last few years and there's been no sign of respiratory issues in my flock.

30% cedar isn't bad IMO, though as aart noted there's different types of cedar and you'd want to avoid the more aromatic varieties like Eastern Red Cedar. Ideally you'd want to let it age as much as possible - at least 6 months, a year or more if you have the space and patience for it - and of course to use it in either open air or well ventilated settings.

Conversely, with 30% cedar, that means 70% of the branches on your lot should still be chippable/usable! It is still recommended you age the chips well to avoid harmful mold growth on fresh chips. Well, as long as you don't have black walnut - that's one I would avoid as a precaution, as I know it causes issues in horses.

Many coop builds have cedar and I don't think people ever consider that. My current coop has cedar trim, my old one (which is now a chick brooder) is 100% cedar.

 

[ChicksinBoise]

What about straw? Cheap and works great for us

 

[trainman]

Well, there are a lot of ideas and suggestions to my dust problem. I have purchased some new bedding and I'm waiting for time and dryer weather to clean the coop and try it out.

To answer the question about cedar........the new coop has no cedar lumber in its construction.

The dust started as soon as I opened the packages and spread it around. The chicks were newly arrived and were 1 or 2 days old so it couldn't have been dander from their feathers or from them trampling the bedding and from their poop.

Here's the new coop taken the day before the chicks arrived.