Using "uncured" wood for coop?

[bhouli43]

I'm new to building and am about to embark on building my first coop. I would like to use lumber from my local lumber yard rather than a big box store but their wood is uncured. Anyone know if this will make a difference? (and if so what the heck is uncured lumber for anyway???) I am not looking for perfection in a coop just a solid place to put the ladies. Any advice would be *so* welcome!

 

[Posh Chickens]

You can preservate it yourself, I think creasote is illegal now in the UK, but all it does is make mites stay away.

 

[JoePa]

Wood from a lumber yard - I'm assuming you mean a saw mill - is green and needs to be kilm dried to maintain dimension - if you use green lumber it will shrink and you'll have spaces between boards - could also crack - if you can get the lumber cheap enough than you can dry it out over time under a some kind of roof - but you can't use it right away -

 

[BarefootMom]

If by Uncured you mean untreated it is fine to use as long as it is used on the inside. Treated wood lasts longer in weather conditions-untreated will rot faster. As long as you plan to put some sort of siding or tin on the outsides you will be fine. We used treated 4x4 for the bottom and that was it since they were going to be resting on the ground. The rest we covered with tin so we used just regular wood.

If it is fresh wood from a sawmill then yes it will shrink up and possibly crack. Not to mention will be a PITA to screw/nail together. It is much harder and will drain a drill's battery quick! We built the floor of one of our coops with green wood knowing it would shrink up so the poo would fall through the cracks...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You will have major warping.

Best to use kiln dried.

 

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

Quote:
Agreed....the framing of your house is not made with treated lumber. If it's out of the weather, it will be fine.
You're run or outside pen, if you have one, will need to be treated lumber though.

 

[cooper38]

It depends on the species of wood white pine will not shrink or warp as bad as some, poplar and yellow pine will warp and shrink alot, hardwoods like oak wont shrink as bad. Hemlock is better to use green or uncured because it is more apt to split or bust when you nail dried boards. If you are using green lumber for framing you will be just fine, I wouldnt use it for trim where joints are critical. One way to minimize shrinking and warping is to stack it up with a air space around each board (sicks or spacers between each layer and between each board) for a couple of weeks to let them air dry. Sometimes local mills will let them air dry for a while before they sell them. Like I said before if your using it for framing you should be just fine besides you will be saving money.