Llamas ‘easiest’ animals to raise

Carol Inkster has raised many kinds of animals on her farm over the years, but it’s her llamas and llama/alpacas she calls the “easiest animals” to bring up.
“They are the easiest animals I’ve ever raised and for many reasons,” she remarked Monday, noting they are tolerant of most temperatures, can be kept with other animals, require minimal shelter, and don’t need a lot of feed.
Inkster explained with their three stomachs and efficient digestive system, llamas can be kept on a variety of pastures or hay.
“They only get a little grain for a treat,” she added. “And their water requirements aren’t high . . . they actually prefer to eat snow.”
So with the lack of rain and moisture over the past year, Inkster has not found any difficulties raising her llamas—unlike what other livestock producers in the district have experienced.
“They are not a lot of work,” Inkster stressed. “They can be kept with just a thin line of fencing because they are respectful of fences . . . and are resistant to parasites.”
Inkster said the llamas need to be sheared once a year and should have their toes trimmed.
There are just two adverse characteristics she mentioned.
“They are prone to ulcers,” Inkster said. “And they are not as hands-on as I would like.”
She noted while her llamas have very distinctive personalities, they don’t care to be handled.
“They like their space . . . it makes shearing very stressful,” she said, noting she often gets some help with the task.
Inkster currently has two female llamas, “Thelma” and “Rain,” and two llama/alpacas, “Louise” and “Drizzle.” Both breeds are members of the camelid family.
Thelma and Rain were bred with a borrowed alpaca and each produced one female offspring, which as a cross-breed are known as huarizo.
“In the llama world, cross-breeding llamas and alpacas is really frowned upon because it is believed they should be kept separate and pure,” she explained, though adding in their native Peru, both llama and alpaca herds live together and cross-breeding does happen naturally.
Inkster, an avid knitter, uses the llama fleece to spin into wool.
“I wanted white fleece so I would be able to dye it,” she recalled. “So I bred them to a white alpaca, but the offspring came out much darker than I expected.”
And although the usability of llama and alpaca fleece is the same in terms of warmth and softness, llamas have guard hairs that alpacas don’t. As such, processing alpaca fleece is easier.
However, Inkster originally didn’t realize how wonderful llama and alpaca wool can be. She bought her first llama nearly six years ago to use as a guardian for her sheep.
“If they see anything, like a dog or coyote, they sound a very piercing alarm and attack,” she noted.
Inkster also had owned a mobile petting zoo and conducted farm tours at the time, and thought a llama would be a novelty.
“Everyone was enthralled with them and they are generally very gentle,” she said.
One day, Inkster was shearing the animals and throwing a large amount of the fleece on the floor when she thought about trying to spin it.
“I started sticking it in my pocket,” she recalled. “Then after I had spun it, I knitted up just a small square—I didn’t realize how warm and how soft it would be.”
Inkster owns The Purple Llama gift shop on Highway 11/71 in Emo and sells many of her llama/alpaca items there.
She noted several people in the district also own llamas and alpacas, but not many use them for their fleece. “They can be used as cart animals or pack animals, for companions and guardians,” she noted.
But Inkster still is interested in creating some white wool.
“I’ve got a creative and artistic streak,” she expressed. “I like dyeing fleece and playing with colours. I’ve done some, but not as much as I would like.”
So she has plans to continue breeding her llamas. She has found a white alpaca in Dryden she hopes to mate the two younger animals with.
“They’re already half alpaca, so I would like to breed them to be three-quarters alpaca—and maybe I’ll get my white fleece,” she exclaimed.
But Inkster stressed she enjoys raising llamas not only because of their fabulous fleece or how effortless they are, but because they are just interesting animals.
“After having had them, I’m still fascinated by them,” she enthused. “You just grow so attached to their personalities. . . .
“If I could afford it, I’d probably have 50.”