Why Seaside Damp Is Different

Coastal smallholders learn quickly that our winters are rarely cold enough to do us any favours. Inland, a hard frost kills off a good deal of mould and bacteria. Here, the thermometer hovers around four or five degrees, the salt-laden air stays heavy with moisture, and everything in the henhouse quietly turns clammy. That combination is ideal for the organisms behind respiratory disease, and it is murder on chickens' feet.

Chickens cope with cold remarkably well. What they cannot cope with is being cold and wet and shut in stale air. Almost every health problem I see in coastal flocks between November and April comes back to those three things. Get the housing and the ground right, and you prevent most of it before it starts.

Housing That Breathes Without Draughts

The goal is a coop that is dry, airy and free from draughts at bird level. Those are three different things, and confusing them causes most of the trouble.

• Raise the coop. Stand it on legs or pallets so the floor sits at least 30cm above ground. Air moving underneath stops the base rotting and cuts the damp rising into the bedding.
• Face the pop hole away from the prevailing wind. On most of our coast that means an easterly or south-westerly blast, so think about which way your weather usually comes.
• Ventilate high, not low. Vents at eaves height on the sheltered side give a gentle cross-flow of air above the birds' heads. Chickens can take a lot of cold air on their backs; what they cannot take is a draught around their chests while they roost.
• Never seal a coop with tarpaulin. It feels kinder on a wild night, but it traps moisture, and a sealed box full of breathing hens will be dripping by morning.

Check the underside of the roof first thing in the morning. If it is beaded with condensation, you need more ventilation, not more insulation. Salt air also eats hinges and screws, so give fixings a glance each autumn and replace anything crumbling.

Bedding and the Daily Routine

Deep litter is a wonderful system in a dry shed. In a coastal coop it is a trap unless you are genuinely on top of it. Keep the litter thin and fresh instead, and change it more often than an inland keeper would.

• Choose hemp or chopped straw over long straw, which mats down, holds moisture against the floor and goes sour underneath.
• Empty the droppings tray every morning. It takes two minutes and removes the single biggest source of ammonia and damp.
• Do the hand test. Pick up a handful of bedding and squeeze. If it clumps together, it is too wet. If it falls apart and smells sweet, you are winning.
• Give more perches than you need. Birds that cannot find a clean perch will roost on damp litter in a huddle, breathing each other's breath.

A light dusting of coop powder in the corners helps keep red mite in check, and a sprinkle of diatomaceous earth worked into the bedding discourages lice without making the air dusty.

Run Management So Feet Stay Dry

Mud is the coastal keeper's real enemy. Wet feet lead to cracked skin, which leads to bumblefoot and stubborn infections. Sort the ground and you have solved half your winter problems.

• Roof part of the run. Even a simple sheet of corrugated plastic over a third of it creates a dry standing area the birds will use constantly.
• Lay woodchip over gravel. A base layer of gravel or rubble with woodchip on top drains far better than bare soil, which churns to slurry within a week. Avoid bark chippings, which grow mould.
• Move feeders and drinkers off the ground. Hang them or stand them on slatted platforms. Spilled feed and dripping drinkers are what turn a run into a bog.
• Split the run in two and rotate. Give each half a rest while the other is in use, and fork it over and add fresh chip during the rest period.

Aim for at least two square metres per bird outdoors in winter, more if you can manage it. Crowding in a wet run spreads every respiratory infection going.

Feet, Legs and the Weekly Once-Over

Pick each bird up once a week and look at the soles of the feet. Bumblefoot starts as a small dark scab or a warm swelling; caught early it is a straightforward job to clean and dress, but left alone it becomes a vet visit. Scaly leg mite shows as raised, crusty scales on the shanks and is easily treated with a suitable oil or spray.

Provide a covered dust bath — dry sand mixed with wood ash works well — so birds can clean their feathers and keep parasites down even in the wettest spells. For feathered-leg breeds, trim the foot feathers short in autumn so they are not permanently wicking water up from the ground.

Spotting Trouble Early

Stand outside the coop after dark and listen. A healthy flock is silent. Sneezing, a rattling note on the breath, head shaking, or bubbles in the corners of the eyes all point to respiratory trouble, and damp housing makes it spread fast.

At the first sign, isolate the affected bird somewhere warm, clean and well ventilated, and ring your vet rather than reaching for a random tonic. Quarantine any new stock for a fortnight before it meets the flock. Between a dry coop, a roofed run and a few minutes of daily observation, you will see your birds through a seaside winter in fine fettle.