Here is some info I found about pallet wood and the different kinds of treatments that may be used on pallet wood. I think it is important for people to know what kind of wood thier pallets are made from because it could affect the health of thier chickens and even themselves or family! Alot of people get free pallets and make chicken coops from them so it might be good to include this somewhere. Here is what I had wrote about pallet wood on another thread:
"We have some pallets that we are planning for a few coops so I did some quick research on pallets and wood that is treated for overseas shipping which may include pallets. Much of this wood is Heat Treated meaning heated in a kiln to 56 degrees Celcius (core temp) for 30 min.to kill pests (mainly bugs). This wood would have a stamp on it showing it had been heat treated as HT. I would think that this type of wood pallet would be the safest to use for chickens. The pallets I have, have a HT stamp on them.
From my reseach, I found that the US and some other countries are currently trying to phase out pallets/treated wood that had been chemically fumigated with methyl bromide. Methyl Bromide has been suspected to cause a range of health problems such as lung and neurological problems as well as possibly deplete the ozone layer. The pallets that have been treated with Methyl Bromide should be stamped MB. MB is kinda scary and I wouldn't want any of my egg layers or anything I eat etc. to be in one of those pallet coops lol. I read one online report that said that some dock workers may have suffered health problems due to handling wood fumigated with methyl bromide.
There are other chemical treatments that are done such as chemical pressure impregnation which should be stamped CPI. I have not found all the list of what all chemicals that would be in the CPI wood. If you do a seach for treated pallets lots of information comes up including places that make pallets. Some of these places have quite a bit of information on different treatment for pallets including other links. Hopefully someone else can add more information here on treated pallets. Please post here if you have any other information on treated pallets/wood."
~Lenette