Comments on: Llamas are lovers, alpacas are mutants

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:00:44 +0000

Probably no one is watching this thread anymore, but I wanted to put in a few comments. I have 6 llamas and two of my friends are alpaca breeders. Phyllis said that llamas and alpacas perform essentially the same tasks, have the same ease of care and both have hilarious ears. I will agree with Phyllis about the ears but the other two are not really correct. Llamas were selectively bred from guanacos as beasts of burden. They are often double coated and the wool is generally more coarse (great for making sturdy rugs, for example). Some have reasonable wool, but that is not their real claim to fame. Apart from the show world, which is an artificial situation, their real use is that they are used for livestock guardians and packing. They make excellent guardians if your target predatory species are coyotes and sporadic dogs. If you have bears or cougars, you need to use guardian dogs, as these will kill the llamas in addition to your sheep. Alpacas are susceptible to predation by dogs and coyotes and so no one would keep them for guarding livestock, instead, neutered llamas are often kept with alpacas for protection. Llamas are also large enough to do packing and here they are exemplary. Having trained dogs and horses most of my life, I was *astonished* the first time I trained llamas to do packing. Their ease of training and the level-headedness they show on trails and through adversity is incredible. I have not trained any alpacas, but my children, working on an alpaca farm, have and say that they are not nearly as trainable (no dunces, mind you, just no where near a llama), which makes perfect sense because this is not what they were selected for. While their larger cousins were trekking the Andes with loads strapped to their backs, alpacas were selected for some of the most amazingly fine fiber in existence. The true gold of the Incas was not a cold metal but the incredible wool they selectively bred. Studies have shown that the alpaca wool in the time of the Incas was far superior to what is generally grown today and that, by a century after the conquistadors trashed their culture, the alpacas were not being bred with care and the amazing wool quality was being lost (breeders are trying to recreate this now). Alpacas are no good as guardians or packers but boy do they make wool.

You mentioned that the alpaca industry is a pyramid scheme and I agree that a certain amount of that is occurring. But because of the situation with wool production and processing in this country, it is far more complex situation than that (I raise sheep with handspinning wool). If you are interested, I can expand on that point. What I can tell you is this: because of indiscriminant breeding, there are more llamas than there are homes and many are ending up in rescues. And I recently heard of a local alpaca breeder who was looking to give away a few males (didn’t have the best quality wool), so the time of unwanted alpacas is beginning as well. Of the 6 llamas that I own, one was purchased 18 years ago as a guardian for my sheep and all the others are rescues. It takes very little space to give a llama a good home and they are clean and quiet. Many zoning regulations are a lot more lax than you would think (in fact, the Chief of Police in my nearby town has several llamas in his back yard, which consists of a few extra lots surrounded by suburban houses. The neighbors whose houses look out onto the llama pasture love it). Or if you can’t give one a home, please, PLEASE consider donating to a llama rescue or a horse rescue (where the situation is especially dire). Unlike dog and cat shelters, they get no financial assistance from municipalities. What I have written here is just a tiny tip of the iceberg and I could give you more information if interested. I noticed that none of your bloggers are well versed in farm animal issues. If you want to rectify that, well, you have my e-mail address…..

By: Anne T

Anne T — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:26:28 +0000

ps: I just really looked at the 2nd photo in Phyllis’s post. That looks to me like a demonstration of LLama Agility…tunnel obstacle! :)

By: eastofeden

eastofeden — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:19:18 +0000

There is a bit of a “underground” (as if you aren’t aware you don’t notice them) of knitters and spinners who would give their first born for Alpaca fleece (LLama too…but Alpaca is much more comercially available and it is a softer fiber). I am lucky enough to have a friend who keeps me supplied.

I happen to love Llamas…..They always remind me of the Pushmepullyou from the REAL “Doctor Doolittle” movie with Rex Harrison.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:21:27 +0000

I bought a yak wool blanket on my first trip to Mongolia. The amazing thing about it is that as soon as I lay down with it over me, a cat magically appears on top of it.

The Mongols in the northern part of thc country have domestic yaks, but there are also yak/cattle crosses they call “hainang”, which might do ok at lower altitudes. Wild yaks can’t really do well below around 10,000 ft. elevation.

So, Sarah, if you live in the Rocky Mountains….

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:28:45 +0000

holy cow - now i want a Yak…

By: Georg

Georg — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:43:58 +0000

Guanaco fiber! Vicuna fiber! Alpaca fiber (especially suri!)! oh that’s all yum! There IS an upswell in demand right now for these fibers, but no love for llama fiber. I agree llamas are cuter. But I loves me some alpaca fiber.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:22:23 +0000

Curiously, the bactrian camels in Mongolia don’t seem to spit. And they’re fun to ride.

By: Anne T

Anne T — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:56:58 +0000

For 10 or 11 years, up until 2 years ago, I used to farmsit frequently for my state’s largest alpaca breeding operation, and their household pets…multiple dogs, cats, bunnies, salt and fresh water fish tanks, finches and amphibians.
Today’s DNA research pretty much concludes that both Lama glama or LLama and Vicugna pacos or Alpaca descend from a common ancestor that lived 2-3 million years ago. Llamas descend from the wild guanaco, and alpaca from the vicuna. Both share the camel propensity for spitting which occurs most of when you the human are bringing them grain and hay and are caught in the middle of their territorial wars.
While as a handspinner and weaver who loves working with the fiber, I learned early on that I didn’t wish to own either variety. The farm I took care of in it’s early days had two gelded males that shared pasture with a small mixed flock of sheep for handspinning and a Baudet de Poitou donkey gelding. All I had to do was make my twice a day appointed feed rounds for the wars to begin.
Nope, don’t care for camelids. Or donkeys.

By: Cate

Cate — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:54:07 +0000

I love to knit with alpaca yarn. It is possible to buy a fleece, send it to a small mill and have it spun to your specifications. Etsy is also a good place to find it (or sell it). This link is to only one Etsy alpaca person.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6542095

By: Marie

Marie — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:45:52 +0000

I am an alpaca person, but perhaps by default. I used to do a fair amount of farm sitting for a couple of small herds. Neither farms had llamas. I also spin and prefer aplaca fiber over llama too. I think alpacas are cuter but I have been around more of them.

I agree, some alpaca farms/businesses are definatly pyramid schemes.