I've seen a few at a distance near a road as I drive by (at least I think they are alpacas). I'm curious if anyone here breeds them or has them among the animals on their farm. We have a lot of interesting members here. I suspect someone here knows a lot about them.

...beware of their lips...

For a pet? Not a money maker. That ship sailed 30 years ago or so.

I had a co-worker whose wife went full on crazy with Alpacas and Llamas.
She evidently thought they were pets. Full on insane costs, expensive barns built and the Vet bills were sky high. When she finally wanted to bail, no one would buy them.
Think owning horses but twice as nuts.

I am not interested in the pedigreed/show type. I am not planning on buying any. I just was curious if anyone here raises them for their own use, as pets, not for profit.

As I understand it, there is a difference of temperment between llamas and alpacas.

My uncle had a Llama for years, that thing was a total dick. Well, two llamas, one named Dolly and the other Danny. Dolly Llama croaked and left the mean bastard Danny to roam the earth.

A few people around here successfully use llamas to protect their goats from predators. I don’t know how a llama manages to protect goats from mountain lions or packs of coyotes/dogs. Maybe they smell real bad.

Had a BiL that raised them a few years ago. Lost nearly everything he had as a result of that and a couple other stupid decisions.

I had a llama for a few years when I had sheep. EXCELLENT guard animal, never had so much as a skunk inside the fence while he was here.

While some, if raised by hand from birth, can be quite tame, they're not really pets. Fernando would stand for me to pet his neck for a minute or two as long as there were apples or carrots in the other hand.

I really enjoyed watching him and my dog playing. They'd take turns chasing each other around the pasture, Fernando "skipping" like Pepe LePew.

I don't know much about alpacas other than they're smaller. AFAIK, about the only commercially viable use for alpacas is for fiber.

Do the protect against Chupacabra?

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
For a pet? Not a money maker. That ship sailed 30 years ago or so.

Really? A colleague of mine still sells the wool from hers (she raises them) for $100-125/oz.

-Rob

My uncle has about 16 llamas. About 10 males and 4 females and 2 younger ones that were born this year. Not sure of their sex. He uses them as pack animals for hiking/fishing/hunting trips. He only packs the males and keeps them separate from the females, except during breeding time.

A llama can carry about 50 - 55 lbs total. We use them to go to areas where almost no one else goes. Remote fishing lakes, remote hunting areas. It really helps when packing out an elk. There's roughly 400 lbs of elk meat on a big bull (de-boned). The llamas allow us to go into areas where there are very few, if any, other hunters. We usually pack in between 5 - 7 miles one way.

quote:

Dolly Llama

Good one.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
...beware of their lips...

teh horror.....teh horror....

quote:

Originally posted by kz1000:

quote:

Dolly Llama

Good one.

I keep suggesting to my uncle he name one Lorenzo, but he hasn't done that yet.

Llamas are great for watching over a flock of sheep. I worked fall hunting seasons for a outfitter who hated them. It was when we encountered a group using them on trails also occupied by back country Elk trips that I understood his concern. Horses would absolutely freak out when we came up on Llamas, they didn't know what they were. Even before being sighted our pack animals would go full retard just from the scent.

The money is in vicuna wool. Alpacas are for chumps.

"Why Does a Vicuña Jacket Cost $21,000?"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/w...ost-22000-1379717090

There’s a bunch around here since the gov pays you or did pay you.

https://amp.washingtontimes.co...alpaca-farms-turn-b/

They are used quite a bit with large free range chicken outfits. They really do a good job at keeping 4 legged varmints out.

My brother has two for a few years now. He sells the wool in the spring. He has pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and horses.