Is Chipboard toxic for Bird Houses?

I have some chipboard lying around and I was going to build a bird house because I like wild life and wood works so,
Anyway, I hear some types of wood are toxic and shouldnt be used for bird houses, is chipboard nomally toxic?


 Answer 

Yes and no. As it ages, the wood off gases and becomes less toxic. At the same time, birds have much much more sensitive respiratory systems than humans do. Ideally, do with an untreated outdoor wood, like the cedar mentioned above. If the chipboard's pretty old, you could probably seal it with several coats of a low VOC outdoor sealer, but it might be easier to just use different wood. Or find another project for your chipboard. If you do choose to use it, seal each piece individually before putting it together so you can get the edges. Chip board will fall apart when exposed to water.

Chipboard tends to fall apart after a couple of rains, so this becomes a repetitive job. Not worth wasting time on it. Harder to nail small nails into compared to plywood.
Never use pretreated lumber as that has the poisons put in to kill mold and mildew.
the toxic wood would be from wine or whiskey barrels; also the wood used for Cigars and cigarettes packing crates.


So I would say yes again.Chip board or OSB has lots of chemicals as does green treated lumber,you have to use special screws because the chemicals were eating the screws.Use cedar that naturally lasts outdoors and wont kill the birds offspring.Good Luck