Texas Cedar Trees and Poultry - Ask Extension
Are cedar trees, leaves and seeds poisonous to poultry? Ive been told both. I have an area with cedar trees where I want to let our chickens day r...
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Texas Cedar Trees and Poultry #303274
Asked February 26, 2016, 10:46 PM EST
Are cedar trees, leaves and seeds poisonous to poultry? Ive been told both. I have an area with cedar trees where I want to let our chickens day range and don't want to loose my flock.
Smith County Texas
Expert Response
The issue with cedar and poultry usually comes up concerning the use of ceder shavings for chick bedding, the argument being that their respiratory systems are more fragile as chicks, and the volatile oils in chopped up cedar volatilizes more readily (more surface area is exposed than with a whole tree or something). That being said, I've never heard of anyone having any issues running their birds around living trees. It's always brought up in the context of bedding materials. So I wouldn't be worried running them under or near some cedar trees. But I would be cautious using shavings for bedding materials with young chicks.
thank you
