Pressure treated lumber

[BGinVA]

Hubby and I are at a standstill. He says that if we don't use pressure treated lumber to build the chicken coop it will be falling down in a few years. I say that if we DO, that all the chemicals in the wood defeat the purpose of raising our food in an organic manner and that I can paint the wood with enviromentally freindly paint that will not leach into our poultry production. What are your thoughts on this issue?

 

[chickenbythesea]

we did a compromise... the frame is pressure treated and the boards aren't. I'm not sure how much of the chemicals are really absorbed by the hens as they spend most of their time out of doors and when they're in the coop their up roosting. If you don't use pressure treated be sure to paint/seal the wood with something since your hubby is right... it will rot away over time. We're in the process of sealing ours with latex stain.

 

[Presidential]

We opted for the same compromise ChickenByTheSea recommended. Treated lumber for the frame only.
Our 4x4 posts touch the ground - they would fall apart quickly without being treated. The chickens don't really have access to the other treated boards, as the floor is covering the bottom supports and the chickens don't get near the roof supports.
I am particular, as well, about staying as organic as possible. However, I did make peace with this decision. Doesn't do me any good to have chickens if my coop isn't able to tolerate our climate!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I've yet to see a chicken gnaw on wood so I would not worry about it. All of my poultry related wood construction is with treated wood for rot resistance. Doesn't affect the birds one way or the other.

 

[cmom]

My coops sit on PT wood which sits on blocks up off of the ground. we were also concerned with the coops rotting away. There are spots in my old coop where on the bottom of the coop even though it sits on PT wood which is on blocks where there is some rotting that has started, but the coop is several years old.