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Llama Care and Breeding

      Learning the basics about llama care and management should make your llama shopping and eventual ownership pleasurable experiences.  And they truly are a pleasure to own.  This is Mauvelous and to us she's living proof of the beauty of llamas.

   Some of the care considerations that you should investigate are housing, worming, inoculations, shearing and toenail trimming, as well as hay supply and type in your area.

   Depending on where you live, adequate housing can vary from a 3 sided shelter to a large barn that you can close up during extreme winter conditions.  In the South, you'll want to install misters and /or fans for relief in hot weather, as llamas can "heat stress" and must be protected.  Other measures such as shady wet sand pits or kiddy pools have been utilized. The linked picture above shows my girls in front of the misting fan that wets the sand in their loafing shed to keep cool.

   Worming and inoculations requirements are also dependent on your location. In certain parts of the country with high densities of white tail deer and a prevalence of meningeal worm, dectomax injections every six weeks is recommended.  Most people also use more than one type of wormer because not all parasites will be killed by any one wormer.  A good idea is to run fecal checks with your vet or to do them yourself, to find out exactly what parasite you might be dealing with.  With good pasture rotation practices and not overpopulating your pastures, sometimes worming can be kept to a minimum.  Again, fecal checks will determine how often and what to use.

 

     Shearing is done in the mid to late April here in the South, usually a little later in the North.  This is a must to prevent heat stress.   Llamas are not "thrown" and shorn as sheep are.  Some people use hand clippers, others use electric clippers, and others might use both in various instances.  That's something to inquire about when you visit farms during the search process, especially if you think you wouldn't want to tackle the shearing yourself at first.

     I have a professional to come out every spring to shear my llamas, and I invite the owners of llamas I've sold to bring their llamas here for the event.  Holly, shown in the picture, has had a full body shearing.  With my longer wooled llamas, I feel this is beneficial to cut off any bad mats or felted areas that prevent air flow, and I do this every 2 or 3 years.

     Another consideration is keeping the toenails trimmed if the llama requires it.  Whether they need it depends on your terrain, and the genetics of the llama. Some lines do not ever seem to need toenails trimmed while others need it several times a year.  Often rocky terrain or walking over concrete slabs is enough to keep the toenails trimmed.  However, if the llama needs it, a consideration when looking at llamas is whether the llama has been trained to let you easily lift his feet calmly.  With a properly desensitized llama, this is no problem.

    The proper lama formulated mineral/vitamin supplement for your area and feeding program should be available to your llamas free choice.  We have used both Winners Edge and Stillwater Minerals.  In the absence of good browsing/grazing, clean hay should be provided.  This is another question to ask at llama ranches you visit. What kind of hay has the llama been eating and how easy is it to obtain?  Depending on the condition of the llama, supplemental feed can be provided, especially in the winter months or for late gestational or nursing mothers and growing crias.  Llamas are like people and have different nutritional needs. I feed my llamas individually to insure that each one gets the right amount.

     Are there negatives to llama ownership?  Yes, llamas will spit.  Unless a llama has been terribly ill treated, and raised not to respect people, it is only at each other to establish the "pecking" order, or to warn another llama that it is too close to his feed bowl, or getting too personal.  Often crias will try to sneak milk from the wrong mom, and learns in a hurry that's not acceptable.  You usually would not want to walk among your llamas with an open bucket of feed. That's inviting trouble!!  The pushier ones might fire warning shots and you just might get hit.   Spit has a distinct odor for while, but it does wash off.  I've found that a towel thrown over the feed bucket takes care of any altercations over feed. Each llama will run in his or her feeding area, and after I close the gate, I give the allotment of feed.

     I must discuss a condition that can occur with llamas that have been raised improperly, called Aberrant Behavior Syndrome.   This happens most often with young males, when he is raised without the companionship of another llama, preferably a young one his age, and he becomes improperly bonded to his human caregiver.  Young llamas need their play time, a time to wrestle and chase and chest butt each other.  If another young male is not available, the youngster will attempt to play with the humans present.  Oftentimes, new owners, unawares, will think this is "cute" in the young weanling and encourage the interaction. Later, when the youngster is approaching 250-300 pounds, and becoming territorial to boot, this is not so "cute" and in fact becomes dangerous.  Proper education, which should begin prior to purchase, will help new owners learn how to interact with young males to keep them easy to work with, but not dangerous to be around.  Reputable breeders would never sell a young, or preweaned, bottle fed llama to unsuspecting folks.  A weanling needs to be a minimum of  6-7 months old and sold with the understanding he will have proper companionship.  A good site to visit to understand more about this syndrome is John Mallon's site.  

     Bottle fed males or females can become too pushy and possibly dangerous, if they are raised improperly.  Sometimes bottling is unavoidable, but this is not something that should be done to make cute pets. 

BREEDING

     I do not recommend entering the breeding of llamas if you think you're going to make big profits and support yourself with this business.  You should learn as much about the animals and their care as possible and consider what you will do with all the crias born that you don't find good homes for.   Here, I only breed to have 3 or 4 crias a year, in the spring.  I have enough land that I know I can keep them forever if need be. I also don't want more than I can properly train to be good companions, whether their purpose ultimately is a backyard pet, show llama, or possible breeder.

     There is a dark side to the breeding of llamas.  There has been in this country indiscriminate breeding of llamas, that has produced an abundance of sub-standard llamas that receive almost no training or care.  These llamas may end up in auctions selling for $50 and might even end up as food themselves.  It's a sad end for a wonderful creature.  Unfortunately, large scale breeding does take place, many times because owners are looking for the new "in" look, whatever it may be at the time.  I enjoy a certain look, and a personality that allows a relationship with the llama.  However, any llamas I breed will have a home here no matter what they are like, if a suitable home is not found with a loving new owner.

     If you think you might like to look into breeding, here are a few considerations to keep in mind.  It is not a good idea to keep a breeding male in with your female and cria herd.  The male might rape the youngsters or pregnant females, or even become disinterested in females.  A female that is bred, might abort and become re-bred during the hot summer months, which here in the south is not a good time to breed.   I've known summer crias that just could not adjust their body temps at first for the heat, and they die.  Also, moms heavy with impending birth, might heat stress more easily. 

     Thus, you have to plan on having a separate area to house your male, one with a good fence if they will be sharing a fence line with the females.  Also, if you plan to have more than one breeding male, separate areas might have to be made for each one, if they are extremely territorial and unused to living with other males.  I have heard of males being housed together, but only when their fighting teeth have been properly blunted, and usually it's 3 or more in a large enough area that each one has his own space.

     A good site to look into for general llama information on breeding and general care is Llamapaedia.  My goal with these pages is to give some food for thought, and a general overview of owning llamas.  Visit breeding farms, and ask questions, before you buy.  Remember, you do not have to breed to enjoy llamas.  Check out my page on What do you do with a Llama? to see how llamas can be enjoyed.

     I'm always willing to visit with llama lovers here, so call or to arrange a visit. The Hill Country is a beautiful place to come!

 

High Acres Llamas

Deloris and Jack Gardner

Phone 830-997-0295

Fredericksburg, Texas

www.highacresllamas.com/care.html