User blog:Mother Of Ships/How to tell the differences between LLamas and Aplacas & How to raise them.

As you can see from the photos here, The easiest difference to spot is the ears. llamas have long banana-shaped ears while alpacas have shorter spear-shaped ears. there really are a lot of differences between llamas and alpacas. The llama is roughly twice the size of the alpaca. Most alpacas weigh between 100 and 175 lbs when fully grown. Llamas on the other hand weigh in the neighborhood of 200 to 350 lbs. with some as heavy as 400 lbs. and the llama has a very coarse outer coat over a softer inner coat - as opposed to the alpaca, which has a very fine, single coat. In addition, the llama produces far less fiber per animal than the alpaca, despite its much larger size. This is because the alpaca was domesticated and carefully bred for over 6000 years as a luxury fiber-producing animal. The llama has been bred for the same amount of time as a pack-carrying animal. A Llama is a much larger animal. They have been used as guard animals for alpacas. OR get a dog for guarding. Their larger size makes them great as a pack animal. They are also used for pulling carts.



There are two different types of alpacas — Huacaya (pronounced “wokaya”) and the Suri —with the differences between the two being predominantly fleece. Huacaya have shorter fibres that stand out perpendicular to the skin, giving them a teddy bear look, while Suri's grow long, shiny locks that curl into ringlets (Dred Locks)

Alpacas are shy and quiet, easy to train and handle, and extremely intelligent. They rarely bite, spit or kick and have far less problems than other livestock such as sheep and cows.

Alpacas are very much herd animals and must be with their herdmates. Llamas are more independent and are often kept separate from other llamas.

An alpaca has straight ears. A llama has curved ears, often called banana shaped. A llamas back is straighter which makes them good for packing.

From the side, llamas generally have a longer face. Alpacas have a shorter, more "smushed" appearance.

Although this can vary, lamas usually have very little hair on their head and face. Alpacas, on the other hand, have a large tuft of hair on the top of their head that falls into their eyes.

Alpaca fibre is almost as strong as silk and highly durable. It's also soft, lightweight, lustrous and highly thermally efficient. When made into garments it doesn't pill or provoke any kind of skin reaction in people who are allergic to the lanolin or guard hairs in sheep's wool.

Alpaca fleeces have the greatest range of colors than any other animal used for fleece. There are least 22 colors ranging from true black through to pure white, and many different shades.

The alpaca is a fine fiber bearing animal and not really used for anything else. A Llama, also, has fiber that can be used but it is much coarser, although it does have a soft undercoat that is fine and is used by spinners. Alpacas do not have guard hair in the prime fleece of this "blanket" area. Despite its much larger size, the llama produces far less fleece per animal than the alpaca. The fleece of the alpaca is so dense that the animals could not remain healthy in the heat of the summer with their fleeces unshorn.

Llamas were primarily bred to be pack animals, and alpacas were primarily as fiber producers. An average alpaca stands 34"- 36" at the withers (shoulders), whereas a llama stands 42"- 48" at the withers. Owners of both llamas and alpacas really notice the size difference when it comes to toenail trimming time. Llamas and alpacas depend on flight for defense so definitely do not like having their legs restrained.

In addition to its packing use, the llama makes a very good guard animal for alpacas, sheep and other small livestock. Llamas and alpacas can interbreed and produce live, fertile offspring, but this offspring would not be either as strong as a true llama nor have as lovely a fleece as a true alpaca, so this "intermediate" animal would not be very useful. New research has confirmed that, while the alpaca was bred by the Incas out of a Vicuna ancestor, the llama was bred by the Incas from a Guanaco ancestor. All four of these animals are members of the camel family, but the rare and endangered Vicuna is famous as the animal with the finest fleece in the world.

Only buy a stud male if you intend to hire him out for stud services or have a large herd of females for him to mate with. Leaving an intact male in a paddock next to a couple of females and only letting him mate once or twice a year will result in an aggressive, frustrated male. It's far better to buy stud services as and when you need them (see our stud services)

PERSONALITY AND TEMPERAMENT You will get varying opinions on this one. Llama owners swear llamas are better; alpacas swear alpacas are better. Some people say there is no difference as far as personality goes.

As an owner of both, my opinion is this: While both animals are very kind, intelligent, curious, and gentle, alpacas generally tend to be more skittish. I have found llamas to be mellower and generally easier to bond with -- they tend to become more of a "pet". The alpacas I have owned and worked with tend to be shyer and more reluctant to showing affection. This is, however, an observation and not a rule. I have also known loving alpacas, and shy llamas. It all depends on the animal and the owner.

Can alpacas be trained easily? Because they are so intelligent, alpacas learn what you need them to know quite fast, including halter training, getting into and out of trailers and toe-nail trimming. Do alpacas make a lot of noises? When penned in with other alpacas you can hear them softly humming to one another but if they're startled or spot a predator they will let out a shrill call as a warning to the others. They also cluck if you annoy them and males produce a sound called orgling when they mate, which is supposed to make the females swoon! How do they get on with other animals? Alpacas will quite happily graze alongside sheep, horses or cows. They may even get used to a dog or two if you have them, although it's likely they'll be alarmed at any other dog that comes too close. Do alpacas spit? Alpacas are very sensitive to their surroundings and will only spit when they are under immense pressure. Spitting is also something that pregnant females do at males to warn them not to try anything frisky! How much land do I need to keep alpacas? Ideally you can keep up to eight alpacas per acre of reasonably-conditioned pasture land, but you will need more if you intend to breed so you can separate males and weaning cria from the females. You could have more per acre is you have enough space to rotate the alpacas on a regular basis to allow the land to recover.