Dry Bedding Beats the Cold

British winters rarely bring the deep, dry cold that hens struggle with; what does the damage is damp. A bird sat on wet litter in a dripping coop will burn through her reserves far faster than one in a dry house at minus five. Keeping bedding dry is the single most natural health measure you can take.

Aim for 15–20cm of softwood shavings, hemp or chopped straw, topped with a thin layer of straw for insulation. Fork out damp patches each morning, turn the rest and top up. This deep-litter approach composts gently underneath, warming the coop and smelling far sweeter than a thin scattering on bare boards.

If you catch a musty, sharp smell at the pop hole, clear the lot out, let the floor dry and start again. A handful of wood ash from untreated timber worked into the litter helps keep it dry and makes life harder for mites.

Ventilation Without Draughts

Sealing a coop up tight does more harm than good. Hens breathe out a great deal of moisture and their droppings release ammonia, and in a closed house both irritate eyes and airways, leaving birds open to respiratory infection. You want fresh air moving constantly, without a gale at perch height.

• Put vents high up, ideally on two opposing sides, so incoming cold air mixes with the warmer air above the birds before it sinks.
• Leave the pop hole open onto a covered run by day, and consider a small permanent opening overnight.
• Fix any drip from the roof or felt — a single leak above a perch will chill a hen all night.
• Stand the coop on gravel or slabs if the ground beneath holds water.

Wholesome Feed and Warm Water

Layers' pellets stay the base of the diet all year, but winter is when extra calories earn their keep. A late-afternoon scatter of mixed grain gives hens something to digest overnight, and digestion generates body heat. Don't overdo it, or they'll fill up and leave their pellets.

Moulting and older birds benefit from extra protein. Kitchen scraps are welcome so long as they're sensible.

• Good scraps: cooked vegetable peelings, cabbage and kale, grated apple, porridge made with water, cooked rice.
• Avoid: anything mouldy or fermented, salty leftovers, raw potato, avocado, and large amounts of onion or garlic.
• Always available: insoluble grit for digestion and crushed oyster shell for strong shells.

Water matters as much as food, and a hen won't drink enough if it's near freezing. Check and refill twice a day, and use a dark rubber bowl rather than metal. A splash of apple cider vinegar in the drinker once or twice a week is a traditional tonic, and a clove of garlic does no harm either.

Gentle Routines That Reduce Stress

Stress lowers immunity, and hens are creatures of habit. Keep to the same feeding times and the same call, and move calmly around the run. Handle birds at dusk when they're settled rather than chasing them about at midday. Introduce new hens in spring if you possibly can — winter upheaval in a confined coop leads to pecking and misery.

Keep the run dry too. Bark chip or gravel over a membrane makes an enormous difference, and a couple of pallets or a raised platform give hens somewhere off the mud to stand and preen.

Keep Them Busy

A bored flock is a pecking flock. Hang a cabbage or a leafy branch at beak height so they have to work for it, scatter a handful of grain through the litter for scratching, and provide perches at different heights. A dust bath under cover — dry soil, sand and a little wood ash — keeps feathers in condition and is one of the best natural parasite controls going.

Little Daily Checks That Catch Trouble Early

Two minutes with a torch each evening tells you a great deal. Hens that are hunched, fluffed up and apart from the others, or that aren't coming to feed, are the ones to pick up and check over.

• Feathers: look for lice and mites around the vent; a dusting of diatomaceous earth in the litter helps.
• Combs: rub a little olive oil or petroleum jelly onto large single combs before a hard frost.
• Coop crevices: red mite hides in joints and under perch ends — scrub with hot water, dry thoroughly, then dust.
• Eyes and nostrils: any discharge or wheezing means damp or ammonia, so revisit your ventilation.

Winter needn't be a battle. Dry bedding, moving air, good food, clean water and a calm, predictable day will carry most flocks through to spring in fine fettle — and you'll enjoy the quiet of the smallholding all the more for it.