painting your coop

[homecatmom]

Hello all. My question today is: I am preparing to paint my coop. I have been told that I may only paint the outside, because the birds will pick at the interior walls and become ill. Is this correct? I should be ready to post the last pictures of the building project sometime this evening or tomorrow morning. Thanks for all the advise available on this list.

 

[peepkeeper]

I wouldn't paint the inside. Chickens pick at everything. I'm only painting the outside of my coop myself. Why take chances?

 

[rosyposyosy]

i forget who it was - but someone painted their coop bright colors in the inside. i suspect it is easier to clean?

 

[speckledhen]

There is a paint that ACE hardware carries that is livestock-safe. Of course, it only comes in limited colors, like red, brown and green, but if a horse can chew on a fence painted with it, a chicken isn't going to be hurt by it.

 

[spottedtail]

I wouldn't paint the inside either.

Instead we applied a triple coat of high grade polyurethane.
Works really well because the chickens can't pick it, it's waterproof, and the hard finish makes cleaning easy.
Applied to new plywood, it has a golden sheen which is quite pleasing.

Good luck,
spot

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I just finished painting mine today. We only painted the outside. $5 returned paint at Lowe's.

When I got the colors they looked like bright orange and black/very dark brown. Hey what do you want, it was $5 for exterior paint, lol. Once they are up and dried, they are Maroon and Gold. My coop is home to Arizona State University chickens, lol. GO SUNDEVILS!!!!!

 

[BeckyLa]

Most of my Banty Barn is made of that stuff I can never remember the name of. It's like construction grade paste board. I got it for free from the leftovers of a new home construction site. Anyway, I was concerned that the moisture would get to this stuff and cause it to separate so I painted it good inside and out with exterior gloss house paint. That was about 4 years ago and I haven't had the first problem with the birds pecking it. And it has held up well even with our veeeery high humidity.

 

[blossom hen]

Quote:
I'm with BeckyLa on this one. I painted the inside of my hen house and my chicks seem completely oblivious to my efforts! And it was the best Martha Stewart semi-gloss that K Mart had on clearance!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We painted the inside and never had a problem. Our chickens have never had any interest in the paint. It helps seal the wood and makes cleaning easier. It's not like they make lead paint any more, anyway.

 

[KrisRose]

I painted the interior of mine. Easier to clean. No problems with the chickens picking at the paint.
Was worried about the fumes after painting but painted in the morning on a hot day.