llama's anybody?

[scrtwh]

Speak to me of llama's. Do you like them? or not? pros and cons?

Several weeks ago, I brought home two sheep that shortly after their arrival, gave birth, so, our little flock doubled within a two week span. I have discovered that I enjoy the fiber animals and with the added inspiration of the Michigan Fiber Festival fresh in my mind have visions of spinning and crocheting articles using my own animals fleece. So ... we have been looking into more sheep, or llamas. Just two, maybe three. :lol:

Lovin the look of the llamas.

[KJag550]

I have been lurking for a while and just had to register and post a reply to this.

My family has had llamas for over 16 years and we just love them! When I was little my parents got my sister and I ponies, well then they found llamas and got rid of our ponies cause the llamas are so much easier to maintan ( I have since begged my way back into horses).

You can have four adult llamas on an acre of ground since their feet are soft they do not creat mud holes. We put a bale of hay out for four adults who are also on free choice pasture and it lasts between one to two weeks. During the summer they are on free choice hay and pasture, in the winter we do supplement with a little grain, mostly our older animals.

They will all use the same dung pile, which means easier cleaning up, and for the most part will go outside to use the potty. The summers are hard on them, I am in western PA so it is really the humidity. The woll reaches full length in 2 years of growth, but we shear ours every year due to heat. We also don't use our fleeces. Also ours get fans during the heat of the day.

I am rambling. . . Anyways, Love llamas. My only warning would be to make sure you go to a reputable breeder and get one that has been handled. If you have any more questions just ask. Oh and they will protect your sheep, keeping coyotes and dogs away.

[JanM]

I knew a lady that owned Alpacas and she said they were very easy to take care of, and the fur is extremely valuable-there are mobile Alpaca clippers that travel the circuit at certain times of the year and trim the coats-I think before summer? They sounded really neat, and she raised them in Colorado so they can live there well. I've seen llamas all over the country, but Alpacas seem to be more rare so far. There are usually alpaca and llama breed associations you can look at for more information.

[Luckydonkey]

I love my llama- I don't do anything with his wool, but he is an awesome dude with a ton of personality! Llamas are excellent gaurds for both your small and large livestock.

[Sleepy]

My only llama experience was extremely negative. Nasty, spitting beast. Worst than a camel.

Now alpacas on the other hand... sweet, loving, cuter than all get out and fleece to die for. My knitting and spinning friends loff alpaca, but I have yet to hear anyone clamoring for llama.

Get some alpaca.

[deltawave]

My old mare KNOWS that Llamas are the antichrist. You cannot convince her otherwise. :D

We stabled overnight once in W. Va on the way to a show and they had a llama wandering loose in the barn, poking its head through the feed openings in all the stalls. Poor Gwennie was so terrorized by this that she stood in the corner of her stall all night, not ruffling the bedding one bit, did not eat, did not drink, and I found her there in the very same spot the next morning, a most unhappy critter. :(

Make sure your horses don't follow the same religion as Gwen. ;)

[harveyhorses]

My old mare KNOWS that Llamas are the antichrist. You cannot convince her otherwise. :D

We stabled overnight once in W. Va on the way to a show and they had a llama wandering loose in the barn, poking its head through the feed openings in all the stalls. Poor Gwennie was so terrorized by this that she stood in the corner of her stall all night, not ruffling the bedding one bit, did not eat, did not drink, and I found her there in the very same spot the next morning, a most unhappy critter. :(

Make sure your horses don't follow the same religion as Gwen. ;)

My gelding is of her religion. First one he saw he was so terrified I could feel his heart through the saddle. It spat too. come to think of it I am of the same religion.

[starrysky]

My best friend's family raises Llamas - they are pretty cool creatures. She has hers (probably 10-15 or so?) turned out with the horses. Most all of them are VERY friendly - only one spits on you! I think they are fun.

[MHM]

I had some free time at our state fair horse show, so I was wandering around when I came upon the llama obstacle class. It was hysterical! Among other things, they had to back through a chute, step through a hula hoop, step up onto a platform, jump a jump, and to finish, follow their person through a water trough complete with water and rubber ducks. From my observation of that class, I would say some llamas are very sweet and cooperative, and others- not so much.

I did wonder how many of those things I could convince a horse to do. :lol:

[Minerva Louise]

There is a llama at Dory's Pay Lake, Buffett, and Petting Zoo in Leola, AR (Hey ya gotta be diversified to survive in a small town in Arkansas). I LOFF him! He is a tall chocolate brown fellow, and he LOFFS peppermints! If you have never fed a llama a peppermint, I strongly suggest it. First, they remove it gently from your hand with lips that are like fingers in a velvet glove. Then their eyes get reeeeeeeally big and they breathe IN-OUT-IN. Totally hilarious!

I would loff a llama, but it wouldn't loff my dogs... :(

[Brockstables]

We inherited a llama - actually it came with the horsetrailer I bought because the woman was moving out of state and could not find a home for him. He was a lovely llama, he really was. However, he had some neurological issues from a heavy worm infestation earlier in life. He sustained considerable damage because a deworming was late. As a result, he had difficulty walking our steep hill in the back of the barn, and we found him a FLATLAND home as a companion to a sicilian donkey... BTW, the donkey was WAY cuter than the llama! I really want one of those! ;)

[HungarianHippo]

Ooh, a colleague asked me JUST today if I would consider taking a small herd (14-15) of alpaca off his hands. They belong to his parents and the parents have gotten too old to do the farming stuff, so he's looking for someone to take them. I can't do it (with 4 horses, 2 goats, chickens, a mini horse and mini donkey, my poor hubby is already twitching) but maybe this is your opportunity to jump in. They have them all on 5 acres and this is enough to support them. We're in IA which is not super far from MI. PM me if interested.

[FatPalomino]

Our old horse is also POSITIVE that llama's and alpaca's are creatures from the devil. We tried boarding him near them (same farm, different pasture) and he never ever ever got over his fear. Same with cattle. He's a good old racehorse, and one day when he's gone, we'll get a llama.

I was chatting with a neat park ranger about them the other day- as he easily loaded 3 in his pickup truck. Cool creatures, and he says they are so much easier to handle and smarter than horses.

[scrtwh]

My old mare KNOWS that Llamas are the antichrist. You cannot convince her otherwise. :D

We stabled overnight once in W. Va on the way to a show and they had a llama wandering loose in the barn, poking its head through the feed openings in all the stalls. Poor Gwennie was so terrorized by this that she stood in the corner of her stall all night, not ruffling the bedding one bit, did not eat, did not drink, and I found her there in the very same spot the next morning, a most unhappy critter. :(

Make sure your horses don't follow the same religion as Gwen. ;)

Well, we had quite the too do with the sheep, especially with out little QH. He was quite sure they were predators .... but, they, the sheep, are in a turnout stall that everybody has to walk by to get to their dinner:winkgrin:, They got used to them pretty quickly when it meant food, and my TWH gelding hangs his head over the fence into their enclosure to just watch them, like they are some form of alien being. So Funny ...

[scrtwh]

Ooh, a colleague asked me JUST today if I would consider taking a small herd (14-15) of alpaca off his hands. They belong to his parents and the parents have gotten too old to do the farming stuff, so he's looking for someone to take them. I can't do it (with 4 horses, 2 goats, chickens, a mini horse and mini donkey, my poor hubby is already twitching) but maybe this is your opportunity to jump in. They have them all on 5 acres and this is enough to support them. We're in IA which is not super far from MI. PM me if interested.

We want to start with two, maybe three, and go from there. That would be somewhat overwhelming. That being said, the Alpaca fleece is much finer quality than the sheep or the llama's. It was quite the eye-opening experience going to that fiber festival, one might call it quite inspiring.
:)

[JoZ]

I have two llamas: Ima Llama and Whosa Llama. I and the other folks here at the farm enjoy them very much. They are not "friendly" in that I cannot go out with a halter and catch one of them, but I can shoo one or both into a smaller enclosure and then convince them to be haltered. I'm sure they would be much better if I worked with them more.

I got them solely to save our barn cats -- we were losing kitties left and right to coyotes. The cat losses have dropped significantly but I can't say for sure that the llamas are responsible -- the only thing they REALLY seem to hate are the landlord's cows!

They take very little effort and are a ton of fun to watch and interact with. Also, there are folks around here who take their llamas on trails as pack animals -- I'd much prefer that my horses get used to llamas here at home as opposed to seeing one for the first time on a trail! (Though I know how horses are... I'm sure a llama with a pack will be NOTHING LIKE a llama without a pack... hmmm, perhaps I need to get packs for ours!)

The 2009 foals here at the farm have grown up with llamas as their companions and babysitters -- very very cute!

As far as the horses go -- it's funny now when new ones come to the farm.
New horse: "OMGiH what is that?!? We must run for our lives!!"
Current horses: "Munch munch munch"
New horse: "No seriously, I mean it, it has a long neck and funny eyes and IT'S HEADING THIS WAY!!!"
Current horses: "Munch munch munch"
New horse: "Munch munch munch"

[starrunner]

I like llamas just fine, as I saw them all the time at the vet clinic I worked at.

Quite honestly, I liked the average llama in the clinic much better than the alpacas. The alpacas seemed more shy.

Actually at a bunch of the alpaca farms I went to, they used llamas as guards for the alpacas.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of a big group of llamas. Lots of lovin' and handling makes a nice llama, but they seem to go "feral" (more antisocial than anything) very quickly and I really don't like having an animal that athletic that doesn't like me very much. :)

But if the right friendly llama came around and I had lots of time to handle and work with he/she, then sure!

But be careful of the average bottlefed male llama. Google berserk llama syndrome. I've known several that had to be euthanized due to their bad behavior.

[MaresNest]

I spent two summers working on a big llama farm when I was in high school. On the whole, I am not particularly impressed with llamas. There was one that I liked a lot (a bottle raised preemie who was quite friendly), but for the most part they were stand off-ish. And inclined to spit. My first day there, I got a massive blob of cud right between the eyes.

I also wasn't real keen on llama people, who were generally somewhat self important and inclined to say things like "Llamas are so much smarter than horses. I taught this llama how to tie by tying him to a fence and letting him figure it out. You could never do that with a horse." Yeah, because the horse is strong enough to tear the fence down, and the llama is not. Sheesh.

We also had alpacas from time to time on the llama farm, and I liked them better. They were more high strung, but also friendlier.

So, in sum, I guess my opinion is that a llama who has been raised 'intensively' (like a preemie) could be great. But most of the llamas I have known (and I would put the number somewhere between 50 and 100) have been somewhere between stand-offish and downright unfriendly. (And, FWIW, other llama people visiting the farm I worked on were always commenting about how nice the farm's llamas were. So I wasn't caring for an unusually unpleasant group... If the other llama folks are to believe, it's rather the opposite!)

I, too, have sheep! I use fences and dogs to keep them safe, though I have considered a llama, too. Perhaps someday. If I were to find the right llama.

[GilbertsCreeksideAcres]

Of course, there is always the Llama Song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOr1jz8vjlk

[scrtwh]

"Of course, there is always the Llama Song..."


crack me up ...




"I, too, have sheep! I use fences and dogs to keep them safe, though I have considered a llama, too. Perhaps someday. If I were to find the right llama."__________________


I love our sheep, we have Shetlands, and am thinking of getting a few Icelandics. Do you keep and use the shearings?

[katarine]

I used to work for a couple who had 3-4. My QH has an unnattural interest in llamas, seriously. It was embarrassing.

I can't say that I desire to own something that expresses contempt by spitting at me. And these were skittish and rude animals, too. Meh, just not my cuppa joe.

[EqTrainer]

My old mare KNOWS that Llamas are the antichrist. You cannot convince her otherwise. :D

We stabled overnight once in W. Va on the way to a show and they had a llama wandering loose in the barn, poking its head through the feed openings in all the stalls. Poor Gwennie was so terrorized by this that she stood in the corner of her stall all night, not ruffling the bedding one bit, did not eat, did not drink, and I found her there in the very same spot the next morning, a most unhappy critter. :(

Make sure your horses don't follow the same religion as Gwen. ;)

I would have felt exactly the same way. Poor Gwen!

[MaresNest]

I love our sheep, we have Shetlands, and am thinking of getting a few Icelandics. Do you keep and use the shearings?

I have Gulf Coast Natives (http://gulfcoastsheepbreeders.org/), and I love them, too! :) I actually operate a little fiber cooperative. City dwelling folks each pay for one sheep's yearly expenses in exchange for the wool. Some of the sheep sponsors spin the wool, others just use it for miscellaneous crafty stuff.

[KLS]

We had a llama in the herd of horses when I was growing up (wll, we had 2, but only one at any given time). The consensus among the horses was that Llama #1 was an SOB and *very* alpha (IIRC, he may have been intact, and was an adult). Routinely bossed the horses around by spitting when he didn't get his way (-- got my pony square in the eye her first day on the farm--ugh!). He was fairly easy to handle as long as it was on his terms or there was food involved. In general, very aloof and full of himelf.

Llama #2 was a juvenile, gelded male... just all-around a much more docile character. The horses didn't really mind him, but gave him a wide berth basd on experiences with llama #1, but the burros actually seemed to like this one. (We barn-type humans liked him better, as well-- he was more friendly to people than the other, and I think I only ever saw him spit maybe 3 times in all the years we had him).

All that said, we did come to the conclusion that perhaps llamas and drafts and/or baby draft crosses shouldn't mix at our place, as both llamas died rather suddenly. Llama #1 may well have hit his life exoectancy, as he was probably teenaged when he passed, but Llama #2 (acquired a few years after the death of #1) was still relatively young (maybe 6?) when he was found down in the field, with suspected spinal damage (a kick from annoying the wrong horse? who knows...)

I'm glad to have had the experience of llamas, and sometimes I miss the cooing noises and gentle whuffles, but I can honestly say I don't miss the smell of wet llama (like every wool sweater you own, dirty and soaking wet all at once-- I got to know it well-- the stream was a favorite soaking spot in the summer heat), nor do I miss trying to get a plastic curry through fleece that was 8+ inches thick in places

They're great critters if you have the time and inclination to focus on them, but IME didn't do so well as a pature puff with lots of other equids around. YMMV.

[KLS]

We had a llama in the herd of horses when I was growing up (wll, we had 2, but only one at any given time). The consensus among the horses was that Llama #1 was an SOB and *very* alpha (IIRC, he may have been intact, and was an adult). Routinely bossed the horses around by spitting when he didn't get his way (-- got my pony square in the eye her first day on the farm--ugh!). He was fairly easy to handle as long as it was on his terms or there was food involved. In general, very aloof and full of himelf.

Llama #2 was a juvenile, gelded male... just all-around a much more docile character. The horses didn't really mind him, but gave him a wide berth basd on experiences with llama #1, but the burros actually seemed to like this one. (We barn-type humans liked him better, as well-- he was more friendly to people than the other, and I think I only ever saw him spit maybe 3 times in all the years we had him).

All that said, we did come to the conclusion that perhaps llamas and drafts and/or baby draft crosses shouldn't mix at our place, as both llamas died rather suddenly. Llama #1 may well have hit his life exoectancy, as he was probably teenaged when he passed, but Llama #2 (acquired a few years after the death of #1) was still relatively young (maybe 6?) when he was found down in the field, with suspected spinal damage (a kick from annoying the wrong horse? who knows...)

I'm glad to have had the experience of llamas, and sometimes I miss the cooing noises and gentle whuffles, but I can honestly say I don't miss the smell of wet llama (like every wool sweater you own, dirty and soaking wet all at once-- I got to know it well-- the stream was a favorite soaking spot in the summer heat), nor do I miss trying to get a plastic curry through fleece that was 8+ inches thick in places.

They're great critters if you have the time and inclination to focus on them, but IME didn't do so well as a pature puff with lots of other equids around. YMMV.