Question from a potential new owner...

[Livinwright Farm]

About how much per year does it cost to keep 2 alpacas?

 

[ksalvagno]

I did answer your other post. I would say no more than it would cost for a goat would be the basic answer.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

thank you for your input on both threads, madce both trying to make sure that I would get an answer relatively soon. I have posted before and not received any responses.

 

[Dollys mama]

They eat as much as a goat and dont need alot of room, so ya as much as a goat.

 

[Julie's +/-6 Girls]

Not sure if I should be asking this here but here goes. Can someone give me a short paragraph on the pros and cons on keeping llamas or alpacas? I like their looks, see them for sale, but am not sure of the reason for keeping them. Are they herd protectors by chance? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[elevan]

Not sure if I should be asking this here but here goes. Can someone give me a short paragraph on the pros and cons on keeping llamas or alpacas? I like their looks, see them for sale, but am not sure of the reason for keeping them. Are they herd protectors by chance? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In my opinion there are 4 reasons to keep them:

A llama CAN be used as a guard BUT it needs to have the right attitude for the job. Not all llamas make good guards. And alpacas shouldn't even be considered for guards.

Llamas and alpacas both provide fiber. Although alpaca fiber is more sought after.

They can be used for packing. Llamas can carry about a third of their total weight...that's about 100# give or take of pack materials that you don't have to haul yourself on the trail.

Llamas can be raised for meat as well. I know a place where you can get llama meat...haven't tried it but it's available... Now, don't anyone jump on me for this one...just because you might not see them as meat doesn't mean that other cultures don't.

 

[llrumsey]

I have a llama named Java, she was given to me last year, she is still pretty wild and no one knows her age, I think she has been passed around quite alot.

I love to sit out in the pasture, she gets between 3-10 feet from me and hums, just hums and hums, I talk to her and she hums her answere, It's like she is keeping an eye out for me, if her ears go back I know to look for someone on the road or something in the pasture that should be there.

I doubt if I will ever be able to halter break her, she really acts as if she has been abused at sometime or another, so I just talk to her and enjoy having her around.

There is a feeling that is hard to explain when you look into an eye of a llama, it's kind of like look into wisdom. The way they hold there head, the way they move. It's just something else.

We are suppose to get her baby from last year, llama's are heard animals, so I'm pretty excited because the baby has been worked with and maybe I can touch and feel it.

My vote is llama x2!

 

[ksalvagno]

Congratulations on your llamas, llrumsey.

I would suggest looking into CameliDynamics by Marty McGee Bennett. It is a kind method of working with camelids and would probably work well for your llama.

 

[chickenzoo]

# 5 reason - Is purely as a pet. All my animals are pets here on the farm... even the chickens. They do give eggs, the peafowl and exotic birds I sell the chicks, the fainting goats, well that's just to see them faint- lol. The horses to ride, the mini horses to cart, the mini cows to get cow milk and be licked by abrasive tongues, the emu and the llama and alpaca are just to watch how funny they are... hehe, and to mow the grass. Between the llamas and the geese I don't have to mow.

I like my llama & alpaca better than the goats, they get into less trouble, don't cry bloody murder when ever they see me and seem to eat less, they sure eat less than my sheep!

 

[MrsDieselEngineer]

One alpaca will eat as much as a large goat, not a nigerian lol