Painting inside of coop with Stockholm/Pine tar?

[Taranakian]

Hey there good chicken people,

We're building our first coop out of pallet wood - it's all heat treated, no nasty chemicals/heavy metals. From experience in our climate, untreated pallet wood tends to last about 2 years before the first signs of borer, and 3-4 years before it's just rotted away and not good for anything except soil amendment or kindling.

Obviously we'll want to coat/paint it with something outside to get the longest life out of it. We've got some Stockholm tar on hand, and I'm just wondering if we should give that a go inside as well. It would take care of the bugs, but will it be detrimental to our chooks?

Cheers

 

[Debbie292d]

I knew this as medicinal, so looked it up. Sounds like not a good idea, though it would do the job. For one, it'll stink. The pine smell will be super strong and could affect some chickens. Also, if chickens happen to rub up on it, it'll get all over their feathers, and it stays sticky.

If you have a Walmart with a paint section, they usually have botched paints they've made or those a customer wasn't happy with. I'd check there or any other store that might have a clearance on some exterior paint.

For the inside, we used kitchen/bathroom paint, but not sure how that would work on pallet wood. I would for sure not put Stockholm tar on the inside.

 

[Taranakian]

I knew this as medicinal, so looked it up. Sounds like not a good idea, though it would do the job. For one, it'll stink. The pine smell will be super strong and could affect some chickens. Also, if chickens happen to rub up on it, it'll get all over their feathers, and it stays sticky.

If you have a Walmart with a paint section, they usually have botched paints they've made or those a customer wasn't happy with. I'd check there or any other store that might have a clearance on some exterior paint.

For the inside, we used kitchen/bathroom paint, but not sure how that would work on pallet wood. I would for sure not put Stockholm tar on the inside.

Thanks for that. No Walmart in New Zealand, but our local hardware stores do have the same discounted botched paint cans.

That said, we've got an LPG weedburner around here which should easily get hot enough to scorch the wood and do the same thing - just without having to paint it on/let it be sticky for awhile. Maybe that's what we'll do instead - still good for water and insect resistance, and presumably a much more neutral smell.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thanks for that. No Walmart in New Zealand, but our local hardware stores do have the same discounted botched paint cans.

That said, we've got an LPG weedburner around here which should easily get hot enough to scorch the wood and do the same thing - just without having to paint it on/let it be sticky for awhile. Maybe that's what we'll do instead - still good for water and insect resistance, and presumably a much more neutral smell.

@Shadrach - didn’t you used to take a propane torch to your coops in Catalonia for cleaning?