Chicken Coop Entrance, LMR Rutherford Gardens
As you may or may not know, VintageGardenGal announced its premier “Chicken Coop Photo Contest” last month. I had some wonderful photos submitted, and thank those who participated. The number of photos submitted, however, were not enough for a true contest. Stay tuned for next year’s spring chicken coop photo contest with prizes.
I do have a treat for you. I want to share with you a “chicken coop to love” that I saw in Napa Valley. In a previous post, I wrote about The Farmstead Restaurant and the Hall’s Long Meadow Ranch. LMR Rutherford Gardens is another historic property owned by the Hall family and an integral part of their sustainable organic vertically integrated family farm. At LMR Rutherford Gardens they grow their own organic produce, flowers, and fruit for many of the top Napa Valley restaurants, including their Farmstead Restaurant, and the Friday Farmer’s Market in St. Helena. Please note, LMR Rutherford Gardens is private, and available for tours by appointment.
LMR Rutherford Gardens is 5.8 acres of rich farm land on the Napa Valley floor, and just south of The Farmstead Restaurant. This property has been growing produce since the 1930′s, and has never been planted in grapes. Besides the land there is a small house, vintage water tower, and wonderful mature trees. Thriving 100 year-old fig trees further add to the property’s charm.
At LMR Rutherford Gardens there is a large chicken coop and beautiful flock of chickens producing lovely organic eggs. In the above photo, you can see the wood door and entrance to their chicken coop. The plank wood door is beautiful, detailed with a chicken motif, and flanked by the romantic floribunda white iceberg roses. Isn’t that enough to welcome you to the chicken coop.
Side of Chicken Coop
Their chicken coop is made of corrugated metal, which is a reasonable building material, creates a wonderful rustic look, and ages gracefully. Framed windows on the side allow air circulation and the important ventilation needed in a chicken coop. Further more, the chicken coop is strategically situated under mature trees to provide shade and dappled light. I can only imagine inside, it is quiet, and filled with nesting boxes for the hens to lay their eggs.
A gigantic outside pen is attached to the chicken coop for their hens to enjoy fresh air, exercise, and produce treats. Landscaping along the chicken coop and outside pen adds color and appeal.
LMR Gardens Chickens in Outside Pen
LMR Rutherford Gardens has a large flock of hens consisting of Ameracanas, Black Australorps, and Cuckoo Marans chicken breeds. Three of my favorite breeds.
I was smitten by LMR Rutherford Gardens chicken coop and chickens. Their chicken coop is safe, protecting, nurturing, beautifully adorned, and well-landscaped. Clearly, some thought and creativity went into creating their chicken coop, and caring for their chickens for the best organic eggs.
Please share creative ideas you use for your chicken coop. Please comment on your favorite chicken breeds.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Bonnie, I’m sorry to hear that the contest didn’t get enough entries, but glad that I can enter next year. My husband is out in the yard working on it as we speak, putting up a fence around the coop for the hens. I’ve been planning the landscape around it which will include white roses – lady banks, iceberg, and sombreuil – white bridal veil spirea, boxwoods, and lavender.
I’m so glad you shared about the Farmstead Restaurant and Rutherford Gardens. I’ll be up there next month as my daughter is touring the Culinary Institute in St. Helena – she hopes to attend in January. What a dream career! Hopefully, I can make plenty of visits up there while she’s in school as the area is lovely! So much to see – I hope to make Rutherford on my next visit.
Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that the pure bred chickens are healthier than the various cross breads? I love my French Marans and Buff Orpingtons. In the future, I believe I will stick with only such breeds. This fall, I hope to raise some meat hens in the Label Rouge fashion.
Amy, St. Helena is an adorable town just below the Culinary Institute. Be sure and go into Lolo’s, a wonderful second-hand shop, and of course the The Farmstead Restaurant.
Your chicken coop sounds dreamy. Be sure and join in the photo contest next year. I have had only pure breed chickens, which I love. Thanks for your lovely comment…VintageGardenGal
That coop in Rutherford is fantastic. I do wish I had enough room, time, and love of eggs to warrant a coop in my garden.
Maybelline, it sounds like you have a dream garden already. I’ll share chicken coop details and photos with you anytime…VintageGardenGal
Hi, Bonnie – I was sure hoping for more entrants in your contest, too. I’m planning a coop in the coming year, and I was wanting to get ideas from others on what works the best. This one you showed is beautiful, and I love the corrugated metal and wood doors. I want a large run that I can stand up in so it will making cleaning easier. Landscaping with the roses, etc., would be such a great benefit for beauty and odor! Thanks for sharing these photos with us! Anytime you have coop photos I’d love to see them!
Vickie, stay tuned for next year’s Chicken Coop Photo Contest next spring, and tell your friends! I think it really helps to see other people’s designs and touches. Like you said intertwining function and beauty. Thanks for your lovely comment…VintageGardenGal
Hi Bonnie,
We have a mutual friend, Deb Prizing, and she wants us to meet in Buffalo. That is a really good looking and functional chicken coop and run. I raise chickens, and the Black Australops are my all time favorite chicken. I also love Buff Orpingtons, and who doesn’t enjoy the Ameracaunas beautiful blue, green and brown eggs? Chickens are fun and easy to keep unless you have a raccoon breaking into your coop. (We did this year, but not now).~~Dee
How can I send you photos of the ThunderCoop which we have built? I have plans and the hardware can be purchased from our website.
Because it is up on poles, it makes a wonderful dog house in a wet area. Just make a wider ramp and Fido doesn’t have to suffer in cold, heat or wet conditions. It can be insulated underneath – there are windows which can be left open or closed. Door can be opened and left open or closed securely.
Arlene, my e-mail is bonnie@vintagegardengal.com. I’m having a chicken coop photo contest next spring, too. Look for it. Thanks for your comment…VintageGardenGal
Bonnie, I just got back from the Napa Valley and was able to dine at the Farmstead. What a treat! I loved the farm to table concept and their gardens were lovely. I was especially impressed with the volume of herbs they grow. It was apparent that they use them well in the foods they serve. Everything was perfectly seasoned! I told a couple of people there that they really need to come out with a cookbook. And if your readers are interested, the August 2010 Food & Wine has a lovely piece on Long Meadow Ranch along with some recipes.
I’m sorry to say that despite emailing prior to arriving, I was unable to take a tour of the ranch itself. Apparently they’ve closed it to private tours but are reconsidering small groups of 6 or less. I highly suggest that those interested actually call and talk to the docent beforehand, but if the restaurant is any indication of what’s happening out at the ranch, it would be well worth the effort!
Amy, I’m so glad you enjoyed The Farmstead Restaurant. It is a special place, and family who are living the farm to table dream. Thanks for your great comment…VintageGardenGal
Hi Bonnie,
We have had our chickens for about ne year now and have never been so entertained by these darlings. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Chicks faired really well in the cold and snow in the North Georgia BlueRidge Mountains. They haven’t been so lucky this summer. Our coop is totally open with wire mesh and sits on our 50 foot front porch. It has a ceiing fan and a stand up fan as well so the girls get a lot of moving air. However the heat has been too much for our two Wyandottes Jac and Pat. They both passed away suddenly within a month of each other during the hottest time this summer. Last year I wrote to you and asked about predators. We were concerned about black bears. Well the girls have been visited 4 times by bears. twice the bears broke through a portion of the coop but the bear was only interested in trying to take their hanging steel feeder! The chickens won. The bear left and we remove the feed each nite. This still hasn’t deterred another couple of different bears. They keep showing up and our two mini long haired daschounds are vigilant chicken watch dogs and run these bears off. The bears just seem curious but it is still unnerving. They go into hibernation the end of October or beginning of November. We can’t wait till then.
Our alpha hen also hasn’t faired well in the heat. She has lost a lot of weight and stopped laying. She is so thin. I have given her special treatment by feeding her special things to keep her strong. I was so worried about the cold but the heat seems to take more of toll on the chickens. Any advice about how to fattenher up. The two Jersey Giants and two Buff Orpingtons are big robust and haven’t lost any weight.
Thanks for all of you kind and knowledgeable advice.
Susan, chickens do better in the cold than in heat. They have no ability to perspire or remove heat from their body. Best to use shade cloth on top of their pen or on sides shielding direct sun, shade landscaping, fans like you are doing, and plenty of drinking water. Extreme heat will affect their egg-laying and general health. Bears on your porch, you are lucky and brave. Thanks for sharing….VintageGardenGal
HI Bonnie,
I am Nikhil,30 yr old guy,from India.Hello!
I love your writings especially on hen coops.
Well I am just a unlucky passer by,
who loves to have hens,but has none whatsoever.
I have a couple of hennish problems.
First the chickens I have at home are ,
my Step Moms(we despise each other),so I have virtually no say about them.And I do not know their Breed’s exact name, but they are from India,Kerala(where I stay), and I bet their eggs are cream in colour, same like bantams, smaller eggs.
They are also a bit hostile ,do not like being touched,
and hate to enter the one door coop(the coop is terrible ,tiny with no ventilation , no nest boxes , only ash from burnt wood as flooring and is my step moms old concepted, lazy work).
The head hen(whichever hen, finished the last chicks brooding
becomes proud and starts pecking all the other birds),
never likes any other hen or cock to use the coop ,
she guards it! and it takes one hour to shoo them,
to their dim & grimy coop
The chicks and hen do not enter the coop since,
my step mom ,believes they will be crushed by the other birds
for sure,instead they r placed in nest boxes(actually veg. containers), placed in the kitchen at night!!!.
Someday, I want my own hen coop and birds, but the Bantams ,
i have, are not social and i do not like their raw,behaviour.
Any advice about breeds with tolerance, and neatness, and yes ,about a perfect simple coop for fifteen birds, thank you .God bless.:)
Nikhil
India.
Do you have any building plans on your site for some antique/vintage looking chicken coops for my backyard? Something fun that I could paint with many colors?
Sherry, I don’t have plans but photos of my own chicken coop modified from a children’s playhouse. I have found that the best way is to find sheds, small buildings, on your property or at salvage retails which can be created and modified into dazzling chicken coops. Also magazines like Country Gardens often have great chicken coops that people have been clever to build. Also, stay tuned to my blog, there is a “Chicken Coop Photo Contest” coming up. Photos submitted in May, Winners announced in June….VintageGardenGal
Hello Bonnie,
I have been looking through my chicken books to find info on feeding chicks while in the brooder. My question is whether to leave chicks access to food and water in the brooder 24/7. My chicks arrive in 2 weeks.
Thank you!
Cheri M.
@ Camp Snuggery
Cheri, I would say “yes”, but best to contact the experts at http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html, and pose your question. Thanks for sharing…VintageGardenGal