Pine Shavings Alternatives

[fullhouse]

If you are allegic to pine, then straw. Of course you may have other issues and straw may be bad too. In that case I would go with sand.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I can't tolerate pine shavings anymore. I can't have any of the live Christmas trees in the house anymore, either. We've been using aspen shavings in the coop and it works really well for me. I don't have any problem with it and don't even need to use a respirator to go in there. Woohoo for that!

I hope changing litters takes care of your problem. I think any of the non-pine alternatives people have suggested to you would be safe for the chickens and also work as litter.

 

[DawnSuiter]

I had to give another good point to the sand.. yesterday amidst hours of rain, I had to go out to my new rooster coop & get them a new roof.. their entire pen was wet, dripping & even had puddle.. it's on the ground. However, it is also full of sand we shoveled in at the last minute, the same kind we use in our hen house.

I spent an HOUR in their run, trapsing through the muck, and the poop, and I just want you all to know when I walked out of that run my shoes were CLEAN as a whistle.. until I stepped OUT of the run into the yard, where they immediately upon my first step became caked with clay mud.

So I'm saying.. the sand is clean, prevents sticky mud and well frankly didn't hold a puddle like the mud did. This was practically exposed directly to the 12 hour rain as well. Sand is an amazing base for the chickens.

 

[mcfarmer]

We recently cut down a healthy horse chestnut tree. (Reasons are many as to why we cut it down). We were thinking of putting all of the branches through a chipper and making our own coop litter. Is it ok to use chestnut tree chippings in the coop? I've only read about pine shavings being used.

 

[karenleigh]

Thank you everyone for all the great suggestions!