Unique hiking adventurewith llamas! 1 of 3 » Travel Photography Blog

Alpaca fiber has a cellular structure similar to hair and is more resilient and much stronger than Merino sheep wool. It is highly sought after in Britain, Europe and Japan. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo exhibits huacaya alpaca. An adult male alpaca’s upper and lower incisors and lower canines develop into fighting teeth or fangs that can be more than 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long. Aside from this difference in tooth morphology, sexual dimorphism is minimal in alpacas. Females, in particular, tend to have a natural need to be part of a herd.

He died 6 months ago and now she has a Ford 4-wheel drive pick-up and was on the phone pricing out a llama. Their crimpy fiber grows perpendicular to the skin, giving them a wooly appearance. Suris have straight fiber that curls toward the ground, hanging in “dreadlocks.” However, because of their finer, less dense coat, the suri is not quite as adept at withstanding severe weather. The suri is rarer with only about 5,000 registered in the United States. So before impulsively buying llamas, determine if you have enough space to fit a llama’s needs. Ensure that you can provide a warm shelter and obtain a reliable food source.

Ensure that your llama has access to plenty of fresh water at all times. A small corral is another essential fenced gathering place for your llamas to hold them for shearing, weaning, and when any medical treatment Doeat.top Animal domestication and diet is needed. However, keeping a breeding male alongside your female llamas only asks for trouble; in this case, a slightly higher fence would be advisable. I strongly recommend separating llamas of the same sex.

Meka was not a show llama, nor friendly, nor woolly. In fact, he didn’t get along with people or other llamas. The other boys in the field would pick on him and he always lost. One day I had a call from a 70-year-old lady who lives on a sheep ranch. She said that there are two things she has always wanted … Her husband said that was nonsense because they didn’t need either.

A. Many people do have alpacas purely as companion animals – and there must be at least 3 of the same gender kept together. Males and females are kept in separate pastures and ideally not to share a fenceline. They are generally not ideal for “pets” similar to dogs BUT if owners are realistic in their expectations they are wonderful animal to raise.

Like the other herd animals on this list, alpacas need at least one other alpaca companion to truly thrive. After being on the trail for five hours, we arrived. Clouds had threatened rain all day, but we’d been lucky so far. When our head guide, Mark, decided to take a short cut, not all the llamas were up for the alternate route. Carson simply sat in the rocky crevice and refused to budge until the weight of his saddle was lifted.

Treated with respect and given enough room to maneuver, no llama worth his salt lick would spit at anyone. We shrugged, unable to think of any more luxuries we needed for our five-day llama pack trip into the alpine wilderness of Montana’s Crazy Mountains. Llamas have a strong herd instinct and they like being with others of their own species. After being taken from their llama herd and placed with the sheep, they will adopt the sheep as their new herd.

After we set up our tents and congregated under the dining tarp, the winds blew and clouds let loose with a torrent of rain. We stayed dry huddled together, getting to know each other while our guides prepared dinner in close quarters. They soon brought us wine and appetizers—shrimp cocktail, pan-fried squid and tuna. Dinner was a delicious seaweed salad, grilled salmon, brown rice and quinoa with peach pie for dessert.

Llamas are also highly adaptive animals that store excess nutrition for leaner days. They aren’t picky eaters and eat shrubbery and other less ideal vegetation to survive in dry climates. They will eat anything from hay and grain to various fruits and fresh veggies.

Feeding llamas are noticeably cheaper than cows and horses. While minor exposure to these toxins is unlikely to harm your llama seriously, large amounts can cause severe health complications and, sadly, even death. Therefore, a standard four to five feet high stock fence will work perfectly well.

Llamas’ coats usually keep them quite warm enough, and adding bedding will only make sanitation a greater effort. In addition, it’s highly advisable, if not crucial, to ensure your fencing isn’t a barbed-wire fence. Llamas can quickly get their fleeces tangled into the barbs, injuring your llamas or causing them to become stuck and unable to move.

Their compact size contributes to easy management and to desirability as a companion animal. Alpacas easily learn to lead, jump in and out of vehicles, cush (sit down) and obey other simple commands. Males produce approximately 8 pounds and females about 5 pounds of easily marketable fiber from their coats per year. A. Alpacas are ruminants which means they chew cud like a cow or a deer.

We also show the alpacas at nationally sanctioned shows as well as enter their fleece (not take them to a show) into fleece shows. To avoid health problems for your piggie, you’ll need to follow a diet of pellets specifically formulated for pigs, supplementing with veggies as treats. Vegetables are not only a low-sugar treat option, but they also hydrate, too. As with all animals, your pigs will need constant access to water.

Llamas consume 1 to 1.3 percent of their body weight daily and eat an average of 10 to 12 pounds of hay per day. An absolute must when you help your llama in winter is giving them grassy hay and grain. You don’t want to give them any moldy hay, as this could make them sick. You may also want to help your llama in winter by giving them a ration of grain, since there is likely not going to be grass for them to graze on. You want to be careful with the grain in order to avoid any choking situations. You may also consider giving your llama beet pulp or cracked corn or pellets of alfalfa.

The spitting is actually a form of communication between the alpacas. It is how crias and young adults learn to interact appropriately in a herd. It could be viewed as their defense mechanism but it’s not really – running is what they rely on for a defense mechanism. The spit is a fine spray of partially digested grass, not too pleasant smelling, but it brushes off once dry. The good news is that alpacas rarely spit at people.

A common ancestor to the South American camelids migrated there about 2.5 million years ago. Two wild species, vicunas and guanacos, still live in the Andes today. A. Female alpacas are ready to breed 24 to 36 months of age depending on the physical stature and maturity level of the alpaca. They do not have a breeding season and can usually be mated at any time of the year. However, in the south alpacas are usually bred in late December thru end of May timeframe to avoid the heat of summer for the alpaca’s last trimester. Alpacas require ‘live breeding’ – artificial insemination is not possible because like cats and rabbits they are induced ovulators, which means that the act of breeding causes them to ovulate.

I was surprised to breathe so easily in the thin air which had 80% less oxygen than back home. His 35-year-old daughter, Amber, followed behind with another four llamas. Sam brought up the rear with Carson, Zeus and Charlie Boy.

Llamas have very warm, thick coats, naturally, so they can enjoy the snow in comfort. But you want to ensure that you are doing everything in your power to help your llama in winter. As in ancient days, alpacas are important to Andean herders, providing luxury fiber and meat.

They do not really like to be held and “petted” and are especially sensitive to being touched on their heads, ears and legs. When I got up to check on the llamas the next morning, we were still shrouded in a cloud. Curtains of rain had turned our camp into a mud puddle.

It’s generally good to give your llamas an occasional bathe. Ensure that you use a high-quality shampoo and conditioner suitable to your llama’s fiber. Woolly llamas require wool shearing to keep them healthy. However, it’s best to leave the job to a professional shearer. Lastly, if you are interested in adding a grain supplement, expect to pay between $30 and $70 per 50-pound bag of grain especially created for llamas.

Llamas who don’t have a lot of body fat are susceptible to the cold even if they have a naturally thick, woolly coat. For some llamas, coats are a necessity in the winter, while for others, they are fine without them. Alpacas are descendants of the wild vicuña and were domesticated by Andean people over 6,000 years ago. Today they are kept primarily because of their extremely soft fleece, which is used to spin into yarn for textiles.

The air cooled, the wind picked up and the view gradually unraveled away from us, unfolding into an ocean of rolling mountains. Alpacas express themselves with a soft hum, other vocalizations and body language, such as neck posturing, ear and tail positioning, and head tilting. They have excellent eyesight and hearing, and will alert the herd and their human keepers of perceived danger with a staccato alarm call. Alpacas rarely spit at people unless frightened or abused, but will use this form of communication with each other to register a complaint.

They are wonderful, gentle animals – very safe for adults and children alike (in fact they are often very curious and enchanted by children). Alpacas do not possess the teeth, horns, hooves or claws to do any harm. They don’t bite, they don’t butt and it is not common for them to kick.

Since this was a free day at our base camp, we were given choices. We could stay behind with the llamas or follow the guides on a day hike. Mark was open to suggestions as to how far we went as there were 9 alpine lakes to explore.

The alpaca is a small relative of the camel domesticated by Andean people for its wool. They are slender-bodied animals with long legs and necks, small heads and large, pointed ears. Alpacas are covered in a soft fleece and have soft, padded feet. While miniature donkeys can be successfully pastured with horses, it’s not recommended that you pasture them with goats or sheep. Jacks tend to be aggressive in their play, “biting” necks as they romp with their friends.