All about

Ballard Creek Ranch Llamas

In 1990 we purchased our home and property on Ballard Road in northern Spokane. It already had two barns and was partially fenced, as the previous owners had horses. The "pasture" was quite overgrown and it was immediately obvious to us that we either had to get "something that would eat it down" or plan on doing a lot of mowing!

The thought of having to mow acres of grass and weeds was not our idea of fun, so we soon began to think about getting some type of grazing livestock.  But what kind??

   We knew that we didn't want horses due to their size and the time and expense involved in keeping them. Also, the existing fences were mostly the wooden dowel and wooden rail types, so unless we wanted to do a lot of re-fencing (that would be as bad or worse than all the mowing!) it automatically eliminated smaller livestock like sheep and goats.

     We considered miniature donkeys for a little while until we realized they had FULL SIZE voices!! Then just when we were about to settle on a couple of calves to raise for meat, the idea of llamas came up.

    Neither of us had actually seen a llama close up and personal and where the idea came from we are not really sure. (We know now that it was DESTINY.)

    But they sounded like a possibility to be looked into. So.....we started to research llamas. Not such an easy task at that time. The library had a total of about 5 books that had any information about llamas. But we checked them all out and began our "llama study."

      The more we learned about them, the more we liked the idea of llamas......easy to care for and cheap to feed; very hardy and an easy to handle size; gentle, friendly, intelligent, quiet, daylight births, community poop piles......HEY, these definitely sounded like our kind of animal!

      Now we just had to find some! We started watching the papers for ads. Surely there must be some llamas around here someplace! Finally we saw an ad for two male llamas-FOR SALE! We called immediately and made an appointment to go see them.

     The moment we saw them being led from the barn we were in love! Those beautiful eyes, long lashes, cute faces and fluffy bodies. And they were so gentle and friendly too. We decided very quickly to purchase them both (we already knew that we had to have at least two, to keep each other company) before anyone else could buy "our llamas."

    We were soon overcome by the "llama fever." We subscribed to all the available llama publications and read them over and over. We joined  the local llama association and attended the ILA conference held in Spokane just two months after we got "the boys." We couldn't get enough of llamas. They really were easy to care for, gentle, friendly, etc, etc.--in fact, they were wonderful and magical and had changed our lives forever. So of course we wanted more. We had to have some babies. And as they say, the rest is history........

    We currently maintain a herd of 50-60 llamas, including the babies. We are breeding for well conformed animals with excellent disposition and long silky wool. Conformation and disposition are first and foremost above all else! What good is beautiful fiber on an ill tempered, structurally unsound animal?

     We invite you to take a look at our herdsires, babies and the llamas we have for sale. We are pleased to be able to share our "four-legged kids" with you on this website and welcome your visit to our ranch when you are in the area. WE LOVE VISITORS!!

For more information or directions to come visit please send us a note!