By Chip Delyria on January 8th, 2012

Sometimes on a small farm it's nice to have things that serve more than one purpose . Ducks are an example of this, they make eggs, eat slugs, and fertilize. Another example of an multi purpose animal is the llama. Llamas are a camelid, they have two toes, sure feet, and lots of wool. (See the WIKI here.) Llamas are also fierce defenders of the homeland and will protect sheep, goats and other animals in their territory instinctively. Lamas are browsers (meaning they eat grass and leaves) and very hardy, so You don't have to worry about what they're going to eat next. They will eat almost anything green. Getting started with llamas is not as hard as one might think and there are plenty of people locally that will be willing to help you get a start and point you in the right direction. Most places in the US have a llama breeder locally but be careful to pick a reputable one.
Stop Spitting at Your Brother! Life Lessons of a Rocky Mountain Llama
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Diane White-Crane Some breeders are not as good as they would like you to think,k so ask around for opinions. Raising a llama from a cria is a good option, but Llamas are very intelligent and it takes a lot of patience to train them right from the beginning. They pick up bad habits fast and they never forget. (ever) Feeding llamas is easy in the sense that they will eat almost anything, We use our llama, Emilie, as a lawnmower/ brush cutter and only really find the need to add hay to her diet in the winter when nothing is growing. The rest of the year we only supplement her diet with wet-cob. Llamas require little water, which gave rise to the myth that they don't drink. I can assure you this is not true. Llamas need water just like any other carbon based life form, so you will need to have clean water for your llamas when they want it (which won't be very often). Llamas also make good pack and cart animals. We use Emilie to pack on camping trips and day trips in the summer. A full grown Llama can carry a good load but the amount will vary depending on the size of the animal.
Stop Spitting At Your Brother--SIGNED (Life Lessons of a Rocky Mountain Llama)
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Diane White-Crane Emilie can carry 30lbs all day long in fair to middling terrain but is half alpaca so she is a bit small. So now you know the good, its on to the bad. Llamas are notoriously ill-tempered creatures, but this is due to a lot of things; temperament, personality, training, and handling all contribute to this. If a llama has been abused or mistreated You are more likely to get spat upon. Spit, O yes spit, It will happen and it will happen to you and it will stink but it is not as a general rule dangerous to you and can be curbed if you know why they spit. Llama spit can say a lot; tired, frustrated, don't like you, afraid, etc., etc., so it has to be taken in context. If you're training and you get spat upon, take time to think about what's going on and a lot of the time the cause will become apparent. If your llama does spit a lot and you can't find out why, it may just not like you. Remember they spit to intimidate you into not doing what you're doing, so if you spit bigger they will get the idea and stop after a while, but try and understand why they are spitting first.
It will make life much easier for everyone. As mentioned before, llamas are fearless warriors and will protect sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens with the utmost courage so if you have sheep you might want to look at one for that purpose but remember, they might be protecting the sheep from you so choose wisely. The last great hurdle for spinners is hair, llamas have hair interspersed with their wool that has to be removed prior to spinning. A llama should be sheared every two years, so its not a huge deal. Last but not least llamas, don't have hoofs, they have toes, with nails, that must be trimmed, and as a general rule they don't like it. It is also somewhat of an art-form so when starting out it might be good to have someone with some know-how show you how.

Good luck and happy Farming.