We are so excited to get to know the boys and learn all about them! The kids and Dad put so much time and effort and muscle into preparing for them to come home.
We kind of fell into this llama deal, so it will be very new to us. The number one reason we are getting them is for pets. They are very sweet and good with kids. Having land is new to us so we are excited about getting animals.
But yes, they are very productive animals, I have learned!
*I've been asked if we can milk them. No, they are not milk producers. They don't even make enough for their own babies, apparently. And I heard their milk doesn't taste good.
*Their fiber is great, much like alpacas. You shear their "blanket" (their back and sides) and card and spin it. L-16 is looking forward to this. She loves fiber. We can use it for our own use or sell it. We will likely get a spinning wheel, but in the meantime, L-16 knows how to use a drop spindle.
*People do eat them! I have heard that their meat is delicious. We don't plan on eating our boys, but as my hubby says, in an emergency, they are good food storage on hoof, but I doubt we would really do it unless we were starving.
*Our boys were just gelded, so no breeding for us. The guy we are buying them from thinks there are too many llamas in the world (over breeding when they were super trendy) so had them gelded before selling. People do still breed them and they sell for lots of money.
*He told us they are very easy to care for. We built them a structure with some shade and they have a large tree to hang out under. They will use a large rubbermade tub for water and we will feed them some hay every 2 days. We will picket line them to eat the weeds down in our field. They are excellent weed eaters; better than goats.
*They make great fertilizer that you can use right away, it doesn't need to be composted first. Or we can put it in compost and it makes amazing, rich soil.
*They are herd protectors. They can live with chickens or sheep/goats and will defend them. He said we won't have any problems with coyotes on our property because llamas kill them. They stomp them to death. They will be o.k. with our own dogs if we introduce them slowly.
*They are very soft footed (despite being able to stomp coyote!) and you can take them backpacking and camping in national parks. My hubby has a bad back and wants to have them carry his packs when they go boy scout camping/hiking.
*They don't make much noise. I have heard them hum. It is low and pretty quiet.
*They do spit, as everyone will tell you, but only under extreme circumstances with humans, like if they are being abused. They do spit at each other when they are irritated. You want to stay out of their line of fire, because it is more llama vomit than llama spit and pretty gross.
*You can play with them and do llama agility/obstacle courses at the fair!
*You can teach them to drive a cart. The guy we are buying from is doing that with one of his other llamas, and asked us if we would like to "borrow" his cart and have it here at our place.
*They will hold a child under 70 lbs on a saddle to ride.
I think that about covers it! I think they will be most useful for us for the weeds, flock protection, fiber and fertilizer. Oh, and they go potty in one spot. Our llama guy brought us a cupful and we chose where we wanted them to go, put it down, and there ya go! Better than dogs!
Happy Llama Day!
2 comments:
I love the Llama's. They are so adorable.
How fun!!!
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