Can I use pressure treated on my coop?

[clarkechick]

I am in planning stages right now for my coop. I have some pressure treated wood from an old kick board that I could recycle. I know it's going to add unnecessary weight to my hopefully "mobile" coop, but I'd really like to reuse it. Is it safe to use treated wood on the coop? Also curious whether I have to paint the inside. I wasn't really planning on it. I'm in Vermont so keeping it draft free is my # 1 concern.
Thanks for any tips! Below is my ideal coop style.

 

[Dogfish]

Perfectly safe to use PT wood.

 

[bryan99705]

I'm cheap and used AWW for ground contact only and painted all the cuts. This put the AWW at chick and bird level and never had a issue.

Very nice coop plan, looking forward to seeing it done. Hint Hint

Remember to allow some ventilation even in the cold as moisture & ammonia can build up fast and is bad for birds. Like the plan since your birds can go out even in the winter and exercise and scratch snow (I got some year olds this spring and they loved pecking & scratching snow) A few saplings thru the wire in the run would give them shaded perches outside on hot days and keep their feet dry during break up. Also wheel barrow tires or even ATV tires work great during break up and any other time the ground is soft. Don't forget to skirt the outside some to stop digger attacks but still be able to move coop easy.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yes. Chickens do not eat wood.

Also curious whether I have to paint the inside. I wasn't really planning on it.

It will be brighter (a bit less of a winter 'lull' in laying, and less trouble getting them to learn to put themselves to roost in the evening) and also MUCh easier to clean. Yes, poo gets on walls. Yes, poo gets *high* on walls. The splorky liquid kind of poo. An easily cleanable (i.e. not raw wood) interior really helps. Although of course you don't gotta if you don't wanna.

I'm in Vermont so keeping it draft free is my # 1 concern.
Thanks for any tips! Below is my ideal coop style.
[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/93189_coop.jpg[/URL]

If you are in Vermont I'd suggest seriously reconsidering that design, unless you have somewhere else (a larger, permanent coop) to keep them in over winter. The pophole-in-floor design radically cuts down on usable interior floorspace, which will be a big important thing for the chickens in VT winters. Also that tiny a coop is just hard to use in cold winter areas period. If it would be possible to have them somewhere larger (at least for winter) thatd be best; if not, at least please consider a conventional pophole-in-wall design.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[clarkechick]

Its funny, because I thought this coop offered a much larger interior space for the birds even though the 10x10" hole will be in the floor. It is going to be at least 3x6'. Most of the playhouse or smaller backyard coops dont have nearly as large an interior footprint. Point taken about painting the inside. It is now a part of my plan!
Why do you say that this type of coop will be hard to use in the winter? Access for me or use for the chickens? I also liked that it provided a completely covered run (which I will put some digging protection skirted around) so that they can extend their outdoor season. Some folks have also suggested that I wrap the run with plastic in the winter time.
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[patandchickens]

Quote:
Seriously 10x10" for a *floor* hole??? Someone has chickens *using* that, for real, definitely? (I am willing to be proven wrong on this, but because it seems rather unlikely I just want to make suuuuuure this isn't just some newbie's design or commercial design, that is not necessarily chicken-tested)

Why do you say that this type of coop will be hard to use in the winter? Access for me or use for the chickens? I also liked that it provided a completely covered run (which I will put some digging protection skirted around) so that they can extend their outdoor season. Some folks have also suggested that I wrap the run with plastic in the winter time. [

It's just hard to manage real small coops in Northern winters, period. It is extremely difficult (sometimes impossible) to balance "enough ventilation to have good air quality and low humidity", "no drafts on chickens", and "not too cold for them if you *do* start to have frostbite issues". Partly b/c the small footprint jsut doesn't allow all that much separation between chickens and winter vents; but largely just because it is such a small volume of air. (A walk-in size 3x6'-footprint coop is MUCH easier to manage air quality, for a given number of chickens, than one that footprint but only 2-3' high)

By all means put plastic on three or three-and-a-half sides of the run, for *any* small coop's run really (not just this one). However that doesn't change the size of your coop.

You *can* do it with that small size and if you have few chickens and well-chosen breeds and not too bad luck, get them thru the winter. I'm certainly not saying it's impossible. It is not, however, really a desirable setup if ANYthing else is possible. In my opinion. You know?

Pat​