Hi Susan,
We have two female guardian llamas with our girls and crias, and neither of our lady llamas have ever been bred. We, too, felt that, perhaps we should let them have their own crias, as they are always taking care of the alpaca crias. We have not acted on this (yet?), but I can tell you a couple of things that you might find interesting...
First, llama crias and alpaca crias are fine together. Don't worry about a size difference; it's not relevant. We have three 5-month old alpaca crias and one, one month old cria, and they all play together. As a matter of fact, the month old female runs the 5-month old boys ragged in play. They are just fine together, and baby llamas and alpacas play well together, too.
Also, one of our lady llamas has taken on the chore of nursemaid to the alpaca crias. This wonderful lady, who has never had crias of her own, actually produces milk and nurses the little piggy alpaca crias. She also lets them get away with playing on top of her, "practice breeding" her and then transferring to the nursing position (I could NOT make this stuff up, and have pictures to prove it!). In short, llamas and alpacas do great together, regardless of size, and if you feel you would like to offer your female guardian llama an opportunity to be a mom, I think it's great.
Best of luck,
Sue
Susan Downs
Kindred Spirits Ranch
Maramec, Oklahoma
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 8:03 PM
Subject: Re: [AlpacaTalk] Guard llama question
I have been feeling kind of sorry for Sammy, our female guard llama because she keeps watch over the girls and all their babies but never has a baby of her own. Has anyone ever bred their guard llamas and if so, how are the larger llama crias in with alpaca crias?
SUSAN OLSON
Alpaca Loco
Riverside, CA
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