Can You Use Pine Wood Shavings For Chickens

They re loved for their absorbency cheap cost insulating properties and composting ease.

Can you use pine wood shavings for chickens.

Like a compost pile you begin with a layer of pine shavings or other organic matter in the browns category. We always use pine shavings for baby chicks. You absolutely need pine wood shavings and not cedar shavings cedar oils and scent can be toxic to chickens. The high nitrogen chicken poop is the green simply add enough shavings to keep the floor composting nicely and the chickens do the aeration for you with their scratching behavior.

I love to use shavings due to odor control and ease of cleaning. We use flake wood shavings from tractor supply co. In most instances you should wait until your new chicks are 3 4 weeks old before placing all pine shavings in the brooder. They re used in both brooders and chicken coops.

I ve read that straw can be too slippery for developing legs to walk on although i haven t honestly looked further into this. I was annoyed that even after cleaning out the coops i would still collect dirty eggs. The most common kinds of shavings are pine and cedar although there is a lot of talk about the possibility of cedar being toxic to chickens. What to use as bedding for your baby chicks is an important consideration.

Pine shavings are touted as safe for chickens health and many packages even have pictures of chickens on them. I usually wait until my chicks are 3 4 weeks old before i use straight pine shavings in my brooder. Easily attainable shavings can be picked up at local feed stores. For the aspect of cleaning the coop i prefer pine shavings.

However pine shavings contain dangerous toxins that may cause serious harm to your chickens. Shavings are a favorite among chicken owners and this type of bedding comes in different forms of wood. Pine wood shavings are an obvious choice but there are other things to consider before you fill your brooder with pine shavings. It is much easier to clean shavings than it is to clean knotted wet straw.

I used pine shavings for years with my chickens. Pine shavings are one of the most used chicken bedding materials in the united states. That s when i discovered hemp bedding. Or the feed store which are sold in a compressed cube.

Scattering corn on the coop floor encourages them.