Submitted by Jean K.
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Another Quilters’ Affair and Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show are in the books. As always, the week was full of surprises. One of the best surprises was a tour of the Alpaca Country Estates, a 134-acre ranch with over 1000 alpacas owned by Nancy and Art Izer. It is located between Sisters and Terrebonne.
My housemates and I stayed at a friend’s home at Crooked River Ranch. Each time we headed into Sisters we passed the ranch and commented on the beautiful animals. One day we stopped to watch them and met Nancy. She encouraged us to come back for a tour. So, we did!
Our tour started in the barn for pregnant hembras, the term for female alpacas. There were 60 hembras ready to give birth or unpack at any time. An interesting fact about hembras is that they are induced ovulators. Ovulation occurs during the act of copulation, not on a predictable cycle. Therefore, breeding can occur at any time, making it easier to manage the herd.
The tour continued in the nursery. There we were able to observe the hembras and their cria. Aside from being unbelievably cute, they were just as curious of us as we were of them. A number of them approached the fences and checked us out.
Our next stop was the pens with the machos or males. There were far fewer of them for obvious reasons. Near these pens were a yurt and two tepees that were used as BnB sites at one time. Wouldn’t that have been fun!
One of our last stops was to meet Classy. A really sweet alpaca that gave two of us kisses. They were very gentle and encompassed our noses. We were giggling through the whole thing.
As we headed to the boutique, Nancy was informed that a hembra gave birth or unpacked a cria. So we got to see the sweetest little wobbly cria within two hours of its birth. What a privilege that was!
Our last stop was the boutique where we made a substantial deposit. Just couldn’t resist such beautiful merchandise. All in all, we had a delightful time with Nancy and her herd and encourage you to visit the ranch if you are in the area.
You can visit the website for the Alpaca Country Estates by clicking the button below.Visit the Website
What a fun little side trip. Thanks for sharing your experience with us all. I’ll have to check it out one of these days.
What a great share about a fun adventure
Hi Jean, This sounds so fascinating and fun! You’ll have to bring one or some of your purchases to a meeting to share or wear! Thanks for sharing about this. Sure adds incentive for going to Sisters.
Naomi
What a fun experience! Thanks for all the new information! Those baby Alpacas are just adorable!
What fun that must have been!