Pressure treated wood, yes or no?

[atropa]

I'm building a tractor and read somewhere not to use pressure treated woos as it can poison the flock. Not to mention it's less expensive. Anyone know if this is true? Thanks!

 

[Southern28Chick]

We used treated wood on the foundation and the floor. Everything's fine here.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Treated wood isn't treated with arsnic (sp?) like it used to be. I've used it too.

 

[Wolfpacker]

Quote:
Bingo. I checked into this when I built raised beds for our veggie garden.

 

[atropa]

Thanks guys. Will I have to use it or will the non treated be ok? I'm sort of on a budget... If I need to use the treated I will, but the tractor isn't a permanent solution, just something until I can afford to build a real coop.

 

[greginshasta]

Any lumber used for exterior construction should be ok for a temporary unit. Even soft wood like pine will take years to deteriorate.

Doug fir would take a very long time to rot, and is firm enough to accept screws or nails. Carpenter ants, if you have them, will do some damage - if the chickens don't get them first.

We have a local mill that offers cedar which is more resistant to rot and insects than other lumber, but does not have the concerns of a chemical treatment. We used that for our raised beds in our garden.

 

[2mnypets]

Never had a problem here with the treated lumber. Has worked out great.

 

[atropa]

Quote:
Thanks, Greg. I'll buy the upgraded stuff to build the real coop.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I've never yet seen a chicken gnaw on a piece of wood.

Untreated wood in ground contact is good for about a year and a half to two years here in Florida if we get anything approaching normal rainfall. Untreated pine is termite candy. Pressure treated is all that I've ever used.

Since they changed the formulation of the wood preservatives used in the pressure treated woods you do want to make sure whatever metal fasteners you use are rated for it. It seems to cause metal to rust faster if they're not rated for the new wood.

.....Alan.

 

[cheeptrick]

I have a coop I'm just putting the finishing touches on and one side is treated and the other is untreated (because my mil told me all my chickens would die with treated wood). I've got the coop on concrete block pilings and raised off the ground 1 1/2 feet or so (chickens like to laze under there on a hot day). So I'll tell you all in a year which side fell in!