Chicken Coop Materials

[Joanna Benton]

I have been searching for materials for the chicken coop I'm building and so far I have been lucky with craigslist. Should I be picky about the materials? When building raised veggie beds you shouldn't  use treated wood, is it the same for chicken coops? I'm not quite sure how I would know if the free building materials on craigslist was treated.  I did read on the forum about someone using an Ikea bunk bed for their coop, surely that must have been treated.

 

Thanks everyone for your input!

[Kimberly Cherry]

Erica,

 

If you don't want to build your own, I have a chicken tractor and run available for sale that my husband built. $225 if you pick it up/$250 delivered. It is A-framed with a nest box on each end, screened side for air flow; easy to clean; I housed 4 hens in it. I have pictures if you think you might be interested. -- Kim

[Erica (Dawnfire)]

Not sure if you were talking to me or not, but we are working on our new coop and run and it's going to be 7 foot by 28 foot and mostly made out of chain link, because it has to hold up to our dogs trying to get at the chickens.

[Angie Chandler]

Joanna,  Treated Lumber like 2x4, 2x6, 4x4 etc tend to look like someone took a staple gun to them.  They are covered in "staple" marks in a linear pattern along the entire length of the board.  The older pressure treated lumber has a barely detectable greenish tint (the newer boards are DEFINATELY green).  Look for the staple gun pattern running the longway on the board for older lumber.  Oh yeah, we use lag screws & washers in all of our lumber so we can re-use it for other projects (bolt, unbolt).  (I used to work in a lumber store).

[Joanna Benton]

Nice, thanks.

[Sterling DePriest Sr.]

 I agree with Rachel, You should not use pressure treated or wolmanized wood as it is a mixture of oxides of copper,chromium,and arsenic and known as CCA. The chemical composition of CCA= Hexavelent Chromium 47% Copper 18.5% and Arsenic at 34% . There are also a long list of other things including Formaldehyde found in the treated lumber. Personally I would not use treated wood anywhere it would come in contact with livestock or food including "Raised beds".

[Joanna Benton]

I'm assuming if it has been treated it will be a different color? Or it will smell as Sheri has indicated? I'd like to use as much recycled material as possible and unfortunately craigslist posts don't indicated if it's been treated. Thanks for your help.

[Sheri Schmeckpeper]

They don't typically smell, Joanna. But I'd be cautious of anything that does because people sometimes treat their own wood with interesting chemicals. The distinctively smelly creosote was found to cause cancer - a nice thing to add to our resume of past hazards, along with holding mercury in our bare hands and using asbestos pads in our science classes. :)

We use recycled material a lot, too. Most wood you encounter won't be treated, so you're pretty safe collecting it from various sources. If it wasn't used for a structure that touched the ground, it's less likely to be treated.

[Joanna Benton]

Great! Thanks for all of your help. I greatly appreciated your input.

[Rachel]

Don't use things like mdf, which is probably the base of most laminated wood you find; it expands and get ruined with just a little water. I would definitely also not use the treated wood (for termites) it's usually a greenish color, so you can tell by looking.

[Sheri Schmeckpeper]

I agree with Erica. I'd be cautious of wood that smells from being treated (If you're old enough you might remember when they treated telephone poles with creosote.) If you're uncertain, you can always paint it.