Building Material

[DougCarter]

I was wanting to know if there is any validity to the belief that you should not use treated lumber in the construction of a coop. I was told the chemicals used in treating the lumber, heavy metals, ECT is bad for the birds. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings, Doug, and thanks for joining BYC! Treated lumber has been a hot topic from time to time on BYC. Here's a link to some old threads. I'll let you read them and make up your own mind. https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=Treated+lumber+coop
Also, make sure you stop by the New Members Forum and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper BYC welcome!
Here's that link https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/44/new-member-introductions

 

[tmarsh83]

Modern treated lumber is nothing like treated lumber of even twenty years ago.

Use it.

 

[Howard E]

There is treated lumber, and then again, there is treated lumber.

The old stuff that is now banned and almost impossible for consumers to buy was CCA, short for Chromium-Copper-Arsenic, the latter being a pretty potent poison, or so some think. So the EPA banned it for almost all consumer related uses, so while you may be able to buy it, you won't get it from a box store.

The new stuff you will likely find is MCA, which is Micronized Copper Azole. Basically, microscopic copper dust is mixed with water and injected into the wood under high pressure. The azole is a fungicide. So the EPA says you can walk around on this stuff in your bare feet and no harm will come to you. Keep in mind it can be left exposed to weather and will resist rotting, but not if it is in contact with the ground, or buried below ground. Not rated for those at all.

I used the new MCA stuff in my coop and never thought twice about it. I used the CCA stuff for my ground contact runners and never thought twice about it.

There was an intermediary treatment called MCQ. It also worked, but for some reason, was highly corrosive to metals. Just about anything short of stainless steel that touched it rusted out and did so very quickly. It was a total train wreck, so look at the sticker and DON'T buy MCQ.