Mineral Oil on Roosting Bar?

[Three Stents]

Chicken girl at TSC told me to rub a little mineral oil on roosting bar to help with clean up....I think she said something about for those that use sand in the coop. What say you?

 

[Artchickenlover21]

I wouldn't personally do that out of fear of the chickens slipping off their roost if it has an oily texture.

 

[DobieLover]

What say you?

Absolutely not.
They rarely poop on the roosts and it scrapes off easily if it does. What do you use for roosting material?

 

[Three Stents]

Absolutely not.
They rarely poop on the roosts and it scrapes off easily if it does. What do you use for roosting material?

2x4

 

[Echelontheory101]

Chicken girl at TSC told me to rub a little mineral oil on roosting bar to help with clean up....I think she said something about for those that use sand in the coop. What say you?

I stained my 2x4 so i could hose it down longer without worrying about moisure issues but i didnt do an oil or poly finish as i dont want it to be slippery and cause toe or feet problems. I sprinkle first Saturday lime on my 2x4 Roost and while they usually poop off the roost down into my poop shelf, when its on the roost bar, the lime dries it out and I can blow it off or even just lightly brush it off with my scooper while I'm cleaning the shelf. I also do 2 pieces of double sided tape on the ends to prevent mites/crawlies crawling across the roost to get at the sleeping birds(it also is a great indicator of presence cause if the birds have them they'll be some stuck to the tape).

 

[paintedChix]

I don't know that I'd use mineral oil.

But in dry environment(s), my parents used to use Linseed oil. This seasoned the wood products & kept them from drying out & disintegrating. Purchased by the gallon & used like paint on yard fencing, horse paddocks & pastures, round pens & arenas. In Colorado & Montana.

They didn't have chickens, but I imagine they would have used it on roosts & inside of coop to naturally protect the wood.

Here in humid NC, ive never used it.

 

[perkolator]

Poop scrapes off soooo easily, so this doesn't make sense to me.

I could see this being practical to preserve wood though, such as anything exposed to outdoor conditions. Usually for that type of application, people might use a diluted boiled linseed oil vs a mineral oil - but mineral oil is basically what gets used on cutting boards, so it's not that slick. For roosts though, that's a negative for me Ghost Rider

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I don't think I'd want to risk that. We use 2x4s for roosting bars, and they very rarely even get poop on them. It all goes behind and below. If there is a little poop, I just scrape it off with an old paint scraper and it's not an issue.

 

[Three Stents]

I'm not using mineral oil...just paint

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicken girl at TSC told me to rub a little mineral oil on roosting bar to help with clean up....I think she said something about for those that use sand in the coop. What say you?

Back when I was young (a long time ago) some people would use burned motor oil on the roosts as a defense against roost mites. It would soak in so no traction issues. These days I would not use motor oil because of the potential toxicity issues though the toxic part probably soon evaporated. I could see mineral oil as a safer substitute for that but I don't see how it would help clean-up at all. If it were moist it would attract dirt and grime. And may attract dirt to their feet if the oil is so thick it sticks to them.

As long as the roosts are dry they should last practically forever. I see no reason to preserve them at all unless they are in the weather. I can't imagine you of all people having the roosts in the weather.

If your roosts are so wide and flat that you see poop building up on them you might have a different situation but I don't see that so I don't worry about it. Mine have never had roost mites. If they did I'd treat them and the coop for roost mites.

I have no idea why that lady made that suggestion. I see a lot of suggestions on here, especially from people where the chickens are pets, that won't do any harm as long as you don't overdo it but are really more to make the person feel good about doing things for their chickens than things that actually help the chickens. Nothing wrong with that, it makes the person feel better. I put this in that category. As long as you lightly apply the mineral oil and rub it in well so there is not surface residue it will cause no harm. It will not do the chickens any good but it might you.