Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Just a quick question, as I need to know if we can use cedar wood chips in our chicken coop? Someone has offered us a few bags and they would like to know before throwing them out.

Cedar oils & scents CAN be toxic to chickens .

If it were me, I would throw them out PDQ. Toxic to chickens, as Ross said. They would be scratching around in it, releasing all the nasties into the air and breathing it in.

I kinda thought so. Thanks for the quick reply, so I can let them know that I don't want them.

I would think about using them as a bottom layer in next boxes, with lots of straw etc on top. Attack the mites and crawlies but they shouldn't scratch in it. Also had a dog cushion made out of it worked for over a year before the bonehead chewed a hole in it. Like anything else, great stuff used in the right way.

Cedar smells wonderful, but is toxic to dogs too. Pine Sol is also a no-no .

Linda

Just thinking about it, I might stuff something like an old onion bag with the chips and put it in the bottom of the nest box, then put the straw or bedding material over it. Would stop it from getting spread around.

Good idea, @Farrier1987 ... or an old feed bag. I wouldn't add cedar chips in nestboxes loose even if there is a layer of other bedding on top, because my hens have a habit of doing a fair bit of scratching around in their nest boxes before they have the bedding "just right" for laying an egg. Or just hanging out.

Yes, initially I thought the cedar chips would be so good to deter tics, lice etc. Are they only toxic if the chickens scratch them around? What is it exactly that is toxic about them? Is toxic oil released when they scratch in it. Would it be beneficial to just place a feed bag of cedar chips in the coop without putting them in the bedding or nest boxes? Just the smell might deter bugs/rodents. Do you know if they would be useful for outside of the coop to deter bugs and rodents or would they still be harmful to my chickens? Is there anything else I could use them for? Any one else use cedar chips for anything?

Yes . With pigeons I get pine needles & line the nest boxes plus sprinkle on top . Keeps lice / bugs away . I use pine shavings in layer nests .