Horses and Pressure Treated Wood

[Bulldogger]

I am converting an old barn to a horse barn and would like to know if pressure treated wood will hurt a horse if they crib.

 

[cedarranch]

They use an insecticide in the treating process. For that reason you cannot burn it. Horses love to chew on wood. I have seen many people use treated wood for the fences and stalls. Even though I don't think they would eat enough to harm them, I would not take the chance. I have always used rough cut oak in the barn.

 

[MikePA]

The only wood in our barn (built 10 years ago) that is PT is in or near the ground. All other wood is non-PT. If it's chewable, e.g., top of the bottom Dutch door, it's covered with metal.

 

[GlueGuy]

I don't know for sure, but I would bet that it isn't good for the horses to chew on. The wood itself has warnings about just handling it, and you need to wear breathing protection if you cut it. So I would keep it away from places where they would have the opportunity.

 

[cowboydoc]

Bulldogger,
They've done studies on this and there weren't any noticeable effects from horses chewing on it. The problems from chewing wood are what the splinters cause. Not a good idea period to let horses chew wood whether it's treated or non-treated. Also a wives tale that horses won't chew on pressure treated wood. They will. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[paulw]

Most pressure treated wood that is available contains copper, chromium, and arsenic (CCA), although there are new pressure treatment preservatives coming out without chromium and arsenic. A horse would have to eat quite a bit to be toxic, more harm from consumption of the wood than the arsenic. In any case, one would want the use a chew-stop type brush-on coating, barrier, or an electric wire the keep the wood intact. We use a brush-on product that is dark brown like creosote oil, works better over time than the pepper hot clear products. The down side is the dark color that will rub off on horses when freshly applied.

 

[beenthere]

The reason for not burning PT wood is because some of it contains arsenic. Its chemically bound once the wood dries, however much of the PT wood is still wet when you buy it, so their is a recommendation for handling it with gloves. Breathing the sawdust is discouraged, even when the wood is not PT. If there is even the remotest doubt, their is a safety warning on it. The story behind the flap on burning PT wood goes back to a person that heated his house with a pot-belly wood stove, and had access to free scrap wood, much of which was PT. He burned it almost exclusively, and didn't have careful disposal of the ashes. The health problems the family had were rightfully or wrongfully attributed to the arsenic levels found in the house. That shifted the axis of the world forever with fears of treated wood. But we won't fall over dead if we burn a piece or two of it, I don't believe.