Daily Llama Routine

[critterhill]

Ok, so maybe the "hi, tell me everything there is to know about llamas" was a bit too open ended of a question. So let me put 3 specific ones out there and see if I can get the biggest of my questions answered.

1) What does a day in the life of llama care look like? ie, how much actual care do they require. I know dogs need to be fed and walked multiple times a day. whereas for my chickens, it's just a question of checking feed and water levels and collecting eggs and mucking out coop out once in a while. What does your daily llama care routine look like?

2) How are they with kids? My kids are 6 and 8, so they have enough sense in their heads to keep themselves safe around large animals if given specific instructions - like don't walk directly behind a horse, no loud noises, that sort of stuff. And they are cautious and careful around small animals and can be trusted not to injure them (like our cats and chickens though we did have a hamster escape once) But would you allow kids that age to mingle with the llama unattended? I don't know anything about llama temperament and how mellow or not they are around small people.

3) Any additional llama chores that are not immediately obvious? I saw some posts on here about periodic shearing, hoof trimming, and worming. Anything else you can think of that they require beyond the basics food, water, and shelter?

Thanks!

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

I'm curious to see what people say !! I want lamas too . SOMEDAY !!

 

[ksalvagno]

Daily care is pretty minimal if you have pet llamas. Water and hay and maybe a llama feed if you chose to feed them something. There are also llama minerals out there that you can put out free choice. If they are locked up around a barn, then you would want to clean up manure daily. They go in a community pile so it is easy to clean up. I cleaned up manure at least once a day and cleaned out their stall at least once a week. Water given fresh daily. Just kept hay out free choice. They had the choice of going out in the pasture which they really do prefer but could come into the barn. They were locked up by the barn at night. I also look over the animals good once a day so I know how they act and look healthy and sick.

Llamas are curious but standoffish. They would rather run away from your kids so I think the biggest thing is not to corner them and always give them an escape route. I would also suggest learning a handling technique like CameliDynamics by Marty McGee Bennett or Gentle Spirit Training by Cathy Spalding. The llamas may get curious about your boys since they are shorter and come up and smell their heads. If the boys just stand still, then the llamas would become better acquainted.

Llamas need annual vaccines. They need at least a CD&T shot but you would want to find out what is needed in your area. They need to be wormed when needed and a fecal would be best to do so you use the correct wormer. They need to be shorn once a year. Toenails trimmed at least quarterly but more if needed. If you have males, their teeth should be checked once a year and trimmed if necessary (especially the fighting teeth). It is also good to check females teeth because some llamas have a bad bite and their front teeth grow too long and then they can' t properly eat.

That is about all I can think of right now but those are the basics. It so depends on if these are breeding animals or pets.

 

[critterhill]

Great info! Thanks!

After doing a little bit of reading, I am starting to think alpacas may be the better choice. My husband is interested in spinning the wool (hair? fur?) into yarn. We have several knitters in our family and my great uncle made some wooden spinning wheels by hand that are still floating around the family that we could probably get our hands on if we had a use for them.

Thanks for the info on kids. One of my girls is very calm and I think would do well around them, the other may need a bit of oversight, but it doesn't sound like there is any reason the girls can't be trained to handle the alpacas correctly and calmly.

I'll look into the training info you mentioned. I assume that would apply to alpacas as well as llamas?

So yes, these would be for pets and peripherally for yarn. Also we have a flock of chickens that has seen heavy losses from raccoons and hawks. I read that alpacas aren't great guard animals, but I am hoping that just having the bigger animal out there with them may deter the smaller predators somewhat.

Would alpacas do well in a wooded area? We live on a rocky hill with mature forest - probably about 100 year old growth lots of poplars, oaks, sassafrass - so there wouldn't be really any grass. Would that be a deal breaker? Would they be happy in an area with trees and underbrush but no grass?

 

[ksalvagno]

If you want to spin the yarn, then yes, you would want alpacas. I would suggest gelded males. There is no reason why your kids couldn't work with them. Kids as young as 3 or 4 have gone into the showring with llamas and alpacas. I know putting my goats in with the chickens helped so I would guess that the alpacas would help with predator problems. I do suspect that the larger animals in the same field are a deterrent. Being in the woods isn't a deal breaker but you will probably feed more hay. They are grazers but will definitely eat leaves. They aren't the good brush eaters like goats though. Yes, the training is for alpacas or llamas.

 

[critterhill]

Excellent. Thanks so much for the info. I now know where to start with my reading and research this winter so we are prepared to put up some fences and start building a shelter in the spring!

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions at some point!

 

[Jules Harrell]

Seek out llamas to visit before getting your own.

This is what I did. I had horses for years in Oklahoma, and I have goats here in upstate NY, so when the llama urge hit I knew it was serious...and I also had an idea of what livestock care was all about. I already took care of 99.9% of the veterinary care myself, which makes a big difference if you are new to vet care.

First thing I did was find someone local who had llamas and visited her. Many times! There's no substitute for actually handling llamas yourself, seeing how they live, and participating in their care. I visited multiple llama farms in my search for my llamas, and saw everything from super fancy to not so fancy, finally came home to the very same lady I initially contacted. I purchased a male from her, and visited him every other day, as he was not yet 6 months hold. Meanwhile there was a lovely female who was much more expensive, and I ended up getting her too. She was only three months old, and the two were half brother half sister. Long story short, I spent 3 months visiting my two llamas, then finally brought them home when the younger was old enough. I was not about to take only one llama and break his heart by separating him from his female companion and his herd.

After a while, I also acquired two rescued llamas to complete my herd. I started out with a portable round hut which is now becoming a greenhouse. My yard was nothing fancy, 18 acres of mountain forest, 1.5 acres fenced.

The llamas have brought a rich life to us here, way beyond what was expected. They are super intelligent, intuitive and beautiful graceful animals.

Jules

More about us:

www.cherryplainfarm.blogspot.com
www.photonicgirl.blogspot.com

 

[erinr]

[One of my girls is very calm and I think would do well around them, the other may need a bit of oversight, but it doesn't sound like there is any reason the girls can't be trained to handle the alpacas correctly and calmly.]

My 2 y/o sister loves to lead one of my llamas around the yard. she calls it "carrying the wama" So cute! Sadie ( the llama) was totally untrained and scared to death of everything whrn I got her 2 years ago, but after some work- ok, a lot of work- she is now easy to catch, halter trained and I can touch her pretty much anywhere. Llamas are easier to work with than any other large animal in my experience. They are gentle, smart and very trainable.