A short history

Joyce at 5ft nothing chatting to 'Kiss'

Why miniature Llamas?

Joyce and I find it exciting to be in at the start of the creation of a new classification of llamas. Looking for an interesting business connected with animals, we initially considered becoming dog breeders, but after researching thoroughly decided it would place too many demands on our time. Next we looked at Alpacas and although they are very cute, we simply didn't want to put that much capital into a late-life career. We met some llamas and llama folk at the local State Fair and were drawn to the animals but somewhat overwhelmed by their size and had pretty well given up on the whole breeding idea until we stumbled onto miniatures and the rest is history, we have the bug and we're hooked.

What do you do with them?

Working with the llamas gives us a lot of pleasure. Pete has become fascinated with studying the gene lines of ours and other minis to try and forecast what combination will most likely produce the kind of llama we want to have on the farm. Joyce fills her 'empty nest' by taking care of her babies. We're semi-retired and the farm fills as much time as we want to give it, it hardly ever intrudes on our plans but does provide a rewarding and purposeful focus in our lives.

Llamas cool off best through their legs and belly, our girls line up to have their legs sprayed on warm days.

Our miniature llamas eat less; poop less; and require less room than a regular sized llama, otherwise their care and maintenance is identical to their larger brothers and sisters. They do have to be sheared each year in the spring. Our 1st year we hired a professional to do this for us but once we became confident in our llama handling abilities we started to shear ourselves, Pete really enjoys giving them their haircuts each year.

A big plus that llamas have over other livestock is how clean they keep the pastures - llama poop looks like large rabbit pellets and they conveniently drop it in communal piles so cleanup is pretty simple. We use a large leaf vacuum to collect our llama beans and put 'em on the roses. In the high summer we put a couple of fans in the barn with thermostatic controls, our girls make their way there each day and wait patiently for the 'magic fan' to come on and cool them

Here's Joyce showing off Big Poppa right after he was sheared, we were getting him ready for a llama show and he still needs a bath and some grooming to remove the hay and leaves he so loves to roll in!

Llamas are very nosey, here's a shot of Miss Kiss's back-end poking out of our chicken coop, only a mini could fit!!!

Llamas are incredibly gentle and they are fascinated by children. One of our great pleasures is sharing our minis with the grandkids.

Some of the girls waiting for the 'magic fan'.

Although we were initially very nervous, we now thoroughly enjoy showing our llamas. There are a growing number of llama events supporting miniature llama classes. This is a great way to meet with like-minded miniature breeders. The support network among members of the AMLA is extremely strong, we always have someone to ask advice from.

We hope this page has given you a feel for the miniature llama lifestyle, please contact us with any questions... we love to talk about llamas, in fact we talk about little else these days!! ...........Pete & Joyce

Llamas need their nails clipped about once a quarter depending on how abrasive the ground is, this is a pretty simple task. Other than that you can put as much or as little effort into them as you wish. One acre of pasture will support 4 or 5 minis and if they have that much grass they will only need hay and/or grain supplements in the winter months. Of course they need a good supply of clean fresh water, in the summer; Joyce likes to give our's "Llama Gatorade" (yes really!!).