Llama guards

[TGreenhut]

Not too long ago I got 2 llamas mainly to protect my goats. At the time I didn't know that only some llamas are guardians but you guys have recently informed me of such. I haven't left my goats out at night to see if the llamas would protect them yet because I rather not risk it. For now my goats are being kept in a stall at night because we only have three. I plan to breed them and expand my goat herd soon, so, for lack of space, they couldn't be closed in at night. Therefore, they will need a protector because we have a really bad coyote problem. What would you guys suggest? Do I need to sell these llamas and find one used for a guard?

P.S. I'm not in the position where I can get a LGD.

 

[elevan]

Do you have a big dog? Or can you borrow a friend's big dog for a test?

Let the goats and llamas out during the day and take the big dog up to the fence...if your llama(s) will guard they should approach the fence in an "aggressive" manner. If they only alert call or run I would say you'll need to find a better choice.

 

[purplequeenvt]

It is true that there are some llamas that will bond with and protect a flock of sheep or goats, but it is not necessarily true that you have to have a llama that is a "real guardian". Most llamas are naturally protective of their territory and also have a strong dislike of canines. This means that they will keep coyotes and roaming dogs out of the pasture regardless of what other animals live there too.

I have 4 llamas currently, but I have had as many as 9. They are always pastured as a group with our flock of sheep. None of them were "guardian only" or even what most people "real guardian" llamas. All of them were trained and handled frequently, some had even been to shows. In all the years (7+) that we have done this, we lost only one sheep to coyotes while the llamas were with them and that was shortly after we started pasturing them together. The sheep very quickly learned to run to the llamas they were threatened.

 

[elevan]

Our llama wasn't a "guard" until the goat kids first started being born. He loves all the goat kids and that's when he started charging the fence toward the neighbors dogs when they barked. The kids jump all over him and one rides him around. It's very cute and he's now very protective of them. Myself or DH have even got some stern looks from him when we've made one of his kids cry.