Thornpaw Lea Farm

05/29/2023

Thanks to all who served, including my husband, his brother and my father and father-in-law. And those who gave all, his uncle and namesake and his great uncle.
Our families have served this country in almost every war including the Revolutionary war. It is their service that has kept this nation free.

05/03/2023

This is some pretty cool artwork.

These sheep are made from old telephone cords and telephones ☎️🐑

source - https://www.jeanluc.cornec.de/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ

04/24/2023

One of my favorite hens. She waits for the truck to pull in snd then stands outside the door talking at me until I open door and give her crumbs.

02/01/2023

It was with great sadness we sold our flock of sheep this fall. They were getting too labor intensive for our aging bodies and price of hay has gone up. Rob was the only one in the family who really likes lamb so we kept one breeding ewe for him. The rest went to Pennsylvania. The Muirs bought lambs last year and was pleased. So they came and got the rest.
We like beef though and since the addition of our bull, we now have two heifer calves. So our little herd is increasing. I'm going to have to buy beef for awhile. Even if the calves born this year are males it's 18 months til freezer camp.

04/22/2022

It's been awhile since I posted. Last year was tough on us as I'm sure so many of you are shating that boat.
But it's spring. The dark cold winter is being replaced by new life all arouned. The garden is showing signs of awakening. The pastures are turning green and most exciting we have babies. One of our cows had her first calf a week ago. A little heifer (female). I named her Aideen. A good Irish name for an Irish Dexter cow. It means little fire.
We have 12 lambs so far with one ewe to go. Two goat kids and 3 goats due anyday.

03/07/2022

We have eggs!

03/21/2021

Ahh. Spring is finally here. Everything on the farm is multiplying. Our perennial plants and herbs are starting to peek out of the mulch. Our sheep and goats look like little tanks. They are due to lamb/kid starting April 4.
Chickens, ducks and geese and turkeys are laying good!. We are looking to incubate some of their eggs. Last fall we crossed our Marans roosters with our blue rock and barred rock hens. We got some great replacement hens that started laying at 16 weeks. The boys went in the freezer and were meaty and tasty. So if anyone is interested in our hybrid birds that we call Menges after our street let us know so we know how many to hatch.
We also have some purebred Welbars we can hatch for day old chicks also. Beautiful birds.
Also Silver Appleyard ducklings. Let us know if you want day old ducklings or you want to reserve ducks for the freezer.
Christmas goose? Now is the time to reserve.
Thanksgiving- Bourbon Red Turkey same thing. day old poults or reserve for November.
So that's what is going on around here. It takes about a month to gather and hatch these birds so let us know ASAP what you need.

03/12/2021

Sophie on guard!

03/12/2021

April is lambing and kidding season. Best time to visit is end of April beginning of May to see all the babies Here are goat kids from last year.

03/12/2021

The last 2 days gave me hope that Spring really is on the way! My chickens think so too. They are all laying eggs. I have 3 groups of birds. One is my older birds consisting of mostly Blue Rocks and Barred Rocks. They are living with 2 Marans roosters. Just over 4 months ago we hatched out 50 chicks. We put the excess boys in the freezer. They were nice and meaty and the girls started laying earlier than expected. We will be hatching more of this cross soon. We call this cross the Menges. That's the street the farm is on. We also have another group of young birds we ordered 6 months ago. They have recently started laying also.

09/18/2020

Vote NO to Illinois "Fair" tax amendment. Nothing fair about it. It's a long read but worth it.

Illinois Governor Pritzker proposed sweeping changes to the state's tax code, advocating a constitutional amendment to permit a graduated-rate income tax.