We started with two, we eventually had over 30. We had a great time getting to know the magical beasts that are llamas. Eventually, we retired, and now we're down to three Old Fogeys living out their lives as pampered pasture...
The definitive facts of coats. My credentials to speak of coats: I’m a retired conformation judge (which really isn’t much of a credential as far as coats are concerned). More to the point, I’ve been a high-end fibre producer for 20 years (llamas and alpacas).
You can throw an old blanket over a cold llama, but I feel better when they’re wearing something that sort of fits and has a good chance of staying on and not getting tangled. I made four adult-size coats, and several cria coats. We rarely use them, but when an old lady is chilly, or somebody’s sick, they’re one of the most useful tools we have.
A perfect pair in the evening – a mother and a beautiful ten-day-old female cria. First thing the next morning, a tragedy and a huge problem – a dead mother and a very hungry cria. Some hard times followed. It took several weeks to talk the cria out of following her mother. At times she was too weak to walk and simply lay in a corner of the living room. At one point she decided that our Giant Schnauzer might be her new mama and, while they looked pretty cute snuggled up with each other beside the couch, this didn’t go a long way toward solving the feeding problem. So, in the hope that you’ll never need them, I offer you a few handy hints from what I learned that summer:
LLAMA CHUTE The second-from-last incarnation. This chute started out quite complicated and got simpler as it went along. There are half-circles to tie leads to where the red arrows point. We don't usually use ALL the tiedowns, but they're very handy, especially for...
It can be tough to gather enthusiasm for playing with llamas in the dead of winter, but last winter we tried something that was voted by kids, parents, and llamas, as “one of the funnest things we ever did”.
We made simple harnesses for our llamas and taught them to pull toboggans!
How To Keep The Bugs Off Your Llamas
I’ve tried everything! I’ve tried spray-on mosquito and fly repellent (good stuff except for the awful price and having to spray it on about every two hours), I’ve tried smudges (good stuff except for all the bother, not being able to breathe in my own yard, and the chances of setting the llamas on fire), I’ve tried flycatchers (good things except they don’t work on mosquitoes, the paper ones look gross, and the bottles and bags smell like something large died in the barn two weeks ago). What a relief to find this Bugtussle Recipe!