What Do You Do With A Llama? | Llama Care and Breeding |Dams | Studs | Crias | Photos | Links | Previously Sold |
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This is Obadiah or Obie for short. He was born prematurely on February 1 and only weighed 20#. He's gaining weight and running like crazy now. Sarai finally had her little girl on 3/3/08 and you can see the results on my cria page. |
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We're Deloris and Jack Gardner and want to welcome you to High Acres Llamas. We're located in the beautiful Hill Country of Central Texas, 7 miles north
of Main Street in Fredericksburg. Our quaint city is a thriving tourist
location featuring Enchanted Rock, the Nimitz Museum, The Bush Memorial
Gallery, and numerous shops, restaurants and bakeries all set in a
picturesque German style community. Besides visiting me, check out the
Fredericksburg links to see current events you can attend. There's always
something going on in Fredericksburg!
Why llamas? I was raising Barbado sheep and waterfowl, but sneaky foxes were making off with my lambs and ducks. I was told that I should get a guardian. I started with a search for a guardian donkey, but the ones I found had blue eyes and cost $3000 each. I had been thinking along the lines of $300. I also learned that donkeys can sometimes be temperamental and harm the lambs as well. Then someone else suggested a llama. Owning llamas had never entered my mind, but I decided to investigate that option. The first place I visited had been selling single crias (baby llamas) at 4 months old. I have since learned that youngsters need the companionship of others for proper mental health, not to mention that this is too young to wean a cria, unless the mom's health is at issue. Fortunately for me, the first farm didn't have any crias available. However he did have an intact male and a female, trying to sell them as a pair to keep together. This also is not a good idea! The male could impregnate the female at the wrong time of year for Texas heat, or try to breed her in the midst of giving birth. Also repeated breedings can damage the female. Anyway, it seemed like it was going to be hard to even find good llamas for sale. As you can see from my web site, I finally did purchase llamas, and have never looked back. I get email all the time from people who have purchased llamas with no support from the breeder at all, and they need help with feed and basic care. Whether you decide to purchase from me, or another breeder, find out what kind of support and guarantees you can expect from that breeder. The main point of this whole story is that it is important to do your homework before you run out and buy llamas. Visit several farms, learn about the different types of llamas, their care, and whether you even want to consider breeding. Breeding shouldn't be entered into without thought and planning. What are your breeding goals? Do you have the time to spend in training crias? Are you willing to invest the extra money necessary to purchase good sound breeding stock? Do you understand what makes good sound breeding stock? There are many questions you should ask yourself. I have to admit, that watching a cria come into the world, will leave you on a high somewhat akin to watching your own child come into the world. I know I was laughing and crying for joy with the experience. But with this joy and the fun of crias, there is the responsibility to provide a home for that cria. In March 2002 , my husband Jack had a serious accident in which he sustained a major traumatic brain injury including the stem area which has affected his right side and balance. He was in a coma for two weeks. He came home almost 2 months after the accident, where we have adapted to accomodate his abilities. His recovery has slowed down, and now is even declining physically. However his attitude is remaining good, he has a wonderful sense of humor that gets me into trouble sometimes, and he wants to set goals for himself.
After all this discourse, I hope you enjoy "meeting" some of our llamas as you explore our pages. I have a page devoted to basic care considerations, one on personal experiences some of my customers have had with their llamas on the What do you do with a llama? page, and a links page that includes other very nice llama farms as well as links to pages devoted to llama education, places to purchase supplies and llama associations around the country. I also have links to local attractions and real estate. I'd like to invite you to visit us if you're coming to the Hill Country of Texas. If you're interested in purchasing llamas, or just want to learn more about them, I'll be happy to visit with you, but please call in advance for an appointment. I'll also direct you to other ranches I have personally visited if I don't have what you're looking for. The most important aspect is to match you with a llama that you will be happy with.
Current Events On the Ranch Spring 2008 update: Though I was expecting 3 crias this spring, I ended up with only 2 since I let Abbie get too fat to have an easy birth. It took so long the baby had suffocated before it was born. However I do have 2 beautiful crias, a boy and girl and their pictures are on my cria page. The shearing event on April 26 went well. Steve Berry of Berry Patch Llamas sheared a total of 28 llamas and he was busy from 9:30 til around 4 PM. At one point I think there were six stock trailers lined up, but everyone looked much cooler for the summer and all of mine at least survived the 38 degree morning we had April 28. For those of you that missed the shearing event here on the ranch, there is a list of shearers in the Texas area at least, that do outside shearings. You can access that list on the SCLA web site. I believe that I have 3 females bred for next Spring, 2009. Two at least have been "spitting off" when tested. Tess and Abbie appear to be bred to my main stud Sogno.
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