What and How to Feed
We use 2nd. cutting of good clean grass hay. My neighbor and I buy a complete field making three trips for the 7 ton we need for feeding. We have enough room in the barn to hold twice this amount by installing a mezzanine. The summer months our llamas eat about the same as sheep.
Our pasture produces up to 200 bales of hay. We have reseeded and added fertilizer to this field. I find by buying my hay as described is better for me than to hire some one to cut and bale my own. Winter time finds all the llamas eating from their own feed bowls of *C.O.B. mixed with small caliber of llama pellets. You let a greedy hungry llama eat too much, she will become constipated. Corn stalks fed to the llamas are a treat and I find is a good source of fiber. I only use the salt block with *selenium. Mineral supplements are available by many suppliers and used by many breeders. Our pregnant female receive a ration of grain mix. The last month we give her even more. A mom with a nursing cria both get a share of grain until the baby cria is weaned from the mom. We separate the mom and cria while feeding grain. This way we know how much each is eating. We weigh the cria several times to make sure it isn’t loosing weight during its young life. Ours gain ½ pound per day. Some days he may not gain. If he is active. We don’t worry.
We place that salt block near the tub of clean water. Water is a must, during the winter cold they seem to drink more. We have no experience in extreme cold weather.
We weigh our llamas at least twice a year. If we are concerned about weight loss we weigh until we are satisfied. Alfalfa hay or pellets have a higher level of protein. Our llamas don’t eat the stems.
*C.O.B. This mixture I buy is rolled
corn, oats, and barley.
*selenium Our area is low in selenium, that’s why we have it with the salt block.
