Pine and Cedar shavings are dangerous

[bdfive]

I've used the large pine shavings for my peachicks (baby peacocks) for 8 years and have never had a problem. Use them in the bottom of large boxes and in the 10 x 12 foot chick building. I do let them air out a day or two before putting the chicks on them.

 

[Gypsi]

Hay in nest boxes and brooder. Local fresh hardwood chips in coop floor, play sand in run. Sand is the most expensive

 

[bdfive]

Hay in nest boxes and brooder. Local fresh hardwood chips in coop floor, play sand in run. Sand is the most expensive

I use sand for my 2 Back Aussie Swans but it's heavy so don't use for my other birds. YES, very expensive here in Texas Hill Country.

 

[Gypsi]

Once a year I change out the run sand and remove the top stuff. And the egg shells all get harder and it's wonderful. Takes about 9 bags of play sand, it's a good sized run

 

[The Widow Flanagan]

I don't care the weather or temperature, which can get to Minus 20 around here. I open the doors every day until my birds want to be put to bed! No build-up of ammonia, a natural dirt floor they love scratching in, and they can ALWAYS go outdoors. Even when there is no vegetation to be found, and certainly no bugs, my chix are Truly Alaskan, and are strong and robust!

 

[Gypsi]

My soil holds too much moisture, that natural dirt gets nasty smelling when I get 6 inches of rain, but the coop is always open unless we get a real blue norther, like 2 days you know.

 

[The Widow Flanagan]

My soil holds too much moisture, that natural dirt gets nasty smelling when I get 6 inches of rain, but the coop is always open unless we get a real blue norther, like 2 days you know.

My chix won't eat their scratch in the coop! Snow, ice, and so slick they can't stand up, and they want their scratch in the open air! I'm down to three chix and a rooster. My two best girls disappeared without a trace a couple weeks apart. With the exception of Mizz Fuzzbutt, the Sister Sister's and Mr Gray, the rooster, are very aggressive to my 18 ducks! I gotta kick them around sometime, and they challenge me! I ferment their feed and they love it. But, the burning question remains...is Pine shavings okay? Do you use, Gypsy?

 

[Gypsi]

My chix won't eat their scratch in the coop! Snow, ice, and so slick they can't stand up, and they want their scratch in the open air! I'm down to three chix and a rooster. My two best girls disappeared without a trace a couple weeks apart. With the exception of Mizz Fuzzbutt, the Sister Sister's and Mr Gray, the rooster, are very aggressive to my 18 ducks! I gotta kick them around sometime, and they challenge me! I ferment their feed and they love it. But, the burning question remains...is Pine shavings okay? Do you use, Gypsy?

I do not use pine shavings. I use hay or straw in the nestbox, pondliner in the coop.

In Texas we build very airy coops with a good roof, or the heat would be horrible. Many people use some kind of mulch and do deep bed but their coops are full height to keep the heat above the chicks.

Mine is only about 4 ft tall at its peak, with a 2 ft space under the coop they can run around in. I use a thin layer of hardwood mulch or straw on top of the pond liner (which is 45 mil epdm rubber). Then when I clean the coop I pull the liner out into the yard to wash it. compost what is on top.

In the run I use play sand. No pine, no cedar.

 

[Vicky Ann Painting]

I'd much rather see people who research and plan well before they ever get an animal also...it's important to know what you are getting into, what you will need to be successful and how you want to manage your flock.

The problems start at the point at the highlighted text. When it is all said and done on this Earth, you will only know something if you try it for yourself. Books are a great starting point but they aren't the definitive source of all things known or experienced...they too are merely the author's experience or info from a few very controlled studies.

Fortunately~or unfortunately, according to your personality~our backyard is not a controlled situation and has so many variables as to render it useless as a lab...but experiment we must. If we want to find what works in our own little backyard, we have to try things....yes...we may even want to try things that may~ in maybe 1% of birds~ cause respiratory problems.

So far on this forum I've gleaned that we cannot use:

Pine shavings~toxic
Cedar shavings~also toxic
Hay or straw~impacts crops and also fatal...imagine that.
Paper towels~chicks eat them and get...Oh...look, it's "impacted crops" again.
Sand~chicks eat it, fill up on it and then can't eat their food and die of starvation


If I were to believe everything I read in books, mag articles and on this forum, I would be trying to raise my birds suspended in the air so they don't come in contact with anything that could harm them and I'd still be obsessing over the quality of the air in which they were suspended!

Having said all that, I've used pine shavings with absolutely no ill effects and used cedar shavings in small amounts in a very well-ventilated and large chicken house and got a few birds that started wheezing. Those birds were rehomed and the rest of the flock did very well...but I did not repeat the cedar shavings experiment.

Straw or hay never were eaten by any flock I've ever had(maybe penned birds do this? Mine free range, so their crops are already full of grass and such).

Never used paper towels because I have always used pine shavings....never a chick or bird lost all these many years.

Sand? Never tried it.

I use horse bedding for my coop. It is virtually dust free and makes for easy cleanup and for the first time I am hearing that pine is now just as dangerous as cedar for chickens. Shhh. don't tell my 24 bird flock. They don't seem to know. They love it. Great thread. Happy chickening!

 

[Gypsi]

I like pondliner myself. Take it out, hose it down, put it back. Neat clean and houses no bugs, lice or mites. Used to use hardwood chips, My ambition has gone down as my age has gone up