Bird safe paint/stain? :)

[Binki]

Hey guys, I'm sorry if this gets asked a lot, I couldn't find a clear answer when looking online, I live in Ontario, Canada and I'm looking to paint or stain my new aviary (yay) that the chickens will eventually hang out in (getting five red sexlinks tomorrow!!) but want to make sure it's not toxic for birds.

A lot of sites that came up in my search said they had non toxic paint but I am still unsure of whether or not that's safe for birds. What do you guys use?

Thanks a lot! I'd prefer to run out tomorrow and grab it rather than order it special online and have to wait... But that would be good to know as well

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I use stain. Hard to find oil stain anymore so the water based stain I use now. Makes for easy application and maintenance. One coat if a toner. I like cedar color or honey teak. Every third or fourth year you wash it and apply another coat.

Paints and stains are not toxic once dry. They are inert when dry. Chickens will peck at loose paint flecks but there is no lead in paint anymore so it's harmless. It's when drying that the fumes are potentially hazardous. With a toner stain there is never loose paint. All my coops and raised beds for garden are done in a wood toner.

 

[JayJo]

We used regular exterior paint left over from painting our house. I figure if it's safe for us, it's probably safe for the birds too.

For the stained part we used Timber Pro, as recommended by the plans we followed. But that we had to special order. http://www.thegardencoop.com/internal-wood-stabilizer.html

 

[Binki]

Thank you SO much for the information guys!!

I've been looking around and found Eco Wood Treatment - it protects the wood as well and is cheap and non toxic but as far as I can tell it's not available in stores locally, sigh

I'll keep looking