subject: Which Wood to Use for Building a Chicken Coop [print this page] Which Wood to Use for Building a Chicken Coop
When you envision a chicken coop what do you see? A small wood structure, surrounded by wire, and filled with chickens? Well that's the normal way to view a coop. Most chicken coops are made out of wood. It's a cheap substance that you can work with and allows you to make a mistake here or there, while still achieve that chicken coop you want. But the question then becomes "With all the different types of wood I could pick, which one should I use?" Since you are going to be building a chicken coop that lasts, it is important to get your wood selection right.
Since wood is a natural substance it will eventually rot. There's no way around it. But since you know it will happen, you can plan for it and deal with it in a number of ways. You could use a pressure treated wood that has pesticide injected into the wood. Or you could use hard wood that is naturally resistant to rotting like redwood or cedar. Another option is to choose a soft wood like pine or fir and apply a sealer to it. A last option is to use a composite material instead of wood. But whatever method you decide you will need to take into consideration two major factors:toxicityandcost.
Factor #1 Toxicity
Since you are building a coop that will be housing live chickens you certainly do not want the materials you are going to be building a chicken coop with to be hazardous and harmful to your chickens. A good way to look at this is that whatever is put into or onto the wood you are going to be using will find its way into your chickens. If you chickens are exposed to toxic materials long enough, they will start to die. An even worse scenario is that the toxins make their way into the eggs and meat, and could poison you or your family. So be careful with the wood you choose.
Because of what I just said, this makes pressure treated wood a bad choice because it's infused with incest poison. So something that already carries a pesticide should not be used in any structure that keeps animals. As for soft woods, be careful with the sealer you use. Not all sealers are made the same. Industrial sealers usually have harmful chemicals that will negatively affect your chickens.
So, for the toxicity issue this makes natural hardwoods the best choice to use. However, this leads to a second and possibly more important issue. Cost.
Factor #2 Cost
With many people becoming more money conscious these days, there is not a lot of money to waste or throw around. This leads to the issue of hardwood. While it is know for being rot-resistance, this wonderful feature comes at a hefty price. For example, a 1 in. x 8in. x 6ft. piece of redwood is $5. That's crazy when you think about how many pieces you actually need for building a chicken coop. By the time you are done, you can be looking at spending $200-$300 on the wood alone. When you look at the composite wood alternative, the price does not get any better.
So in conclusion, when you're building a chicken coop you have to weigh both the safety of the wood and the cost. If you do not have a big budget you might as well use cheaper softwood and then just coat it with a natural, toxic-free sealer. But if you can afford to spend a little more, go with a good hardwood which are great to look at and can last, unsealed, for decades.
