Predation Control at Shrikewood

At Shrikewood, we use a combination of either three, four or five strand electric fence (depending on the location and topography of the field) and llamas.  Why llamas?  We looked at all the options prior to deciding and decided on llamas for the following reasons:

A.  They're pretty neat creatures.  Oh, stop,  that's not why. But...hey...they ARE really cool!   

B.   They don't need the extra care that dogs do. They eat the same food and are housed and pastured right with the sheep.    

C.   We also looked at donkeys but had heard that they could be aggressive towards dogs.  Given that we have house dogs on the farm, this was an issue for us.  Llamas become familiar with the house dogs and get to know that these particular canines are not a threat.  That is not to say that they do not "perk up" when our dogs are near the fields but after they become familiar with the dogs, and see them with us, they do not become agitated.  

D.  The research we did indicated they really worked well.

 

How are They Doing?

Well, we don't want to jinx a good thing but.....really well.  We have not lost one sheep to coyotes to date. Shrikewood is a pretty woody 100 acres and the coyotes come so close to the house that we sometimes think they're right in the driveway or at the barn door so...we know they're there.   

Having said that, it's not just any llama that will do.  We strongly recommend that if you're considering llamas as guardians for your flocks that you do a fair bit of research prior to purchasing one.  Our research indicated that it needed to be a gelded male of at least two years old and, preferably, one that is already trained to guard. 

Therefore, our two guard llamas - Beau and Silver - are both gelded males, 5 and 6 years old respectively, and both were used as guard llamas in an alpaca flock when we purchased them. 

Having said that, though....we feel that electric fencing is also an important component of any  predation control program on a farm such as ours.  

We purchased our llamas from Northern Light Farms, located about 30 minutes northwest of Selby. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shepherd in Training

Beau on a Snowy Winter's Night

Keeping an Eye from the High Ground

 
© 2005 Shrikewood Farm

Shrikewood Farm Rideau Arcotts

Some Facts About Llamas

• Llamas are members of the camelid, or camel, family.

• Llamas are hardy and well suited to harsh environments. 

• Llamas are smart and easy to train. (Sometimes too smart. Hint: if you have gates which close by hooks or latches, best not to let them see you do it. Trust us on this one. We learned the hard way.) 

• Llamas are vegetarians and have efficient digestive systems. 

• Llamas live to be about 20 years old. 

• Llamas are social animals and prefer to live with other llamas or herd animals. 

• Llamas don't bite. They spit when they're agitated, but that's mostly at each other. 

Do They Spit?

The idea that llamas spit is true. Llamas usually spit to settle an argument over food or to decide which is the dominant llama. A female will also spit at a male to tell him to get lost. They do not normally spit at humans unless they are provoked. Their body language will warn other llamas; flattened ears are a signal to back off and are usually sufficient. The next threat may be a spitting sound, but using only air.