[Jacob-list] guard llamas

[The Blacks]

We have had wonderful luck with our llama.  I have been told that it is usually the gelded boys that most people use for protection but we have a female that was given to us a couple of years ago and I swear by her!  My cat can not even get in to the field without Mama chasing her out!  I had great luck with working my dog out there today - usually it doesn't work- but my dog has found that the llama will follow the sheep if she can just get the sheep where I want them then the llama follows!  
My husband use to manage an alpaca farm ( about 400 head) and when he first started there they had llamas to - we never had any trouble with dog attacks.  When the new owners bought the farm they wanted all of the llamas removed from the farm immediately.  It wasn't even 2 weeks before we had 2 alpacas killed ($42,000!).  We have an incredible problem here on our island with dog owners - I say owners because that is where I think the fault should be.  Since we have had our llama we have had no trouble at all.  I have heard horror  stories about ungelded llamas being put into a field and kill LOTS of sheep.  The farm that we got our jacobs from had an ungelded llama out there and I know for a fact that he killed at least a hundred animals.  The old owner of the sheep apparently thought that he would guard the sheep while she was away and just put him in the field and left him.  I spoke with the guy who had to try and catch him and clean up all of the dead animals because of him - what a nightmare! When my husband and I went and bought our sheep we trailed up the llama and took him to an auction house.  The poor thing was in such poor shape by then that they only sold him for $30 - probably for dog food.  Oh well.  I hope everyone has as good of luck with thier llamas as we have had.  Have a good one.
         Tiar Black
Friday Harbor WA

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