Beautiful, intelligent creatures, and they only spit if provoked by people or other llamas. Spitting is a way that female llamas tell the male llama to “back off’ when they are bred. They sometimes get into minor disputes over food and they sometimes spit and jump on one another.

What is the difference between llamas and alpacas? Not much except for size. Alpacas tend to have a greater quantity of fibre for their size. Llamas are generally less expensive than alpacas. Alpacas are not as good at being sheep guardians or backpackers, due to their smaller size.

They eat about one square bale of hay a day, so are more economical to keep than a cat!

They require some shed, barn or shelter for the very cold weather. They like rain and often sit out when it rains. As they don’t groom themselves, this may be their way of keeping clean. They also “dry clean” by finding a rolling place. Sand or sandy soil is best.

They need their toe nails trimming at least twice a year, or else they grow too long and curl, making it hard for them to walk.

They need regular deworming and an annual “Tasvax” type of immunisation once a year.

It is rare for them to have problems birthing. Gestation is 11 and a half months. The young are called “cria”.

The fibre quality varies with the animal, but most North American llamas these days have been bred for high quality fibre. Llamas of the “suri” type have long wavy, drapy fibre and these animals are much sought after and are generally more expensive to buy. We sell our spun skeins of llama wool to a local “Sheep and Wool” store. It goes for about $18 for a 100 gram skein retail. Llama leather has also been used to make moccasins.

Llamas can pull carts and may be ridden by younger children under 100lbs.

They are great in parades and can be dressed up as reindeer or camels in Santa Claus parades

Backpacking with llamas in great fun. Their feet are not hard on the environment.

Llamas are a source of meat in South America, and some people eat them here too. They taste quite like beef, and the meat is low in cholesterol.

There are llama shows in most parts of Canada and the U.S.

Llamas make great 4H projects. There are llama 4H associations.

Llamas are used for predator control of coyotes and wolves in this part of the world. They help protect herds of sheep, goats and alpacas.

Llamas can be simply pets, who help to beautify your acreage or farm, as well as keeping the lawn well trimmed!

There is a llama registry in Canada known as the Canadian Llama Association. Most of our llamas are CLAA registered.

There is a llama association in Ontario.

Katahdins are a medium sized, lean, breed of meat sheep. They were first developed in Maine, USA and named after Mount Katahdin.

They were originally designed by combining the genetics of the St. Croix hair sheep, the Wiltshire horned sheep, the Suffolk to add size, and various other breeds

Our Katahdin sheep are Canadian registered, and before registration, have to meet exacting breed standards regarding conformation, lack of horns, and coat quality.

They are very fertile, lamb easily, and make excellent mothers. They usually have twins or triplets. We usually manage to average close to a 200 percent lamb crop per ewe.

Katahdins shed their wool in the spring, and so require no shearing or tail-docking. They do however, produce enough wool for the winter to keep them warm in our cold, snowy, Canadian climate. As they do not have to put so much of their energy into wool production, they are more efficient at converting food into the excellent, lean, meat that they are famous for.

They are alleged to be more parasite tolerant than other sheep breeds. This is due to the fact that external parasites, such as keds, do not thrive well in the short hair of the Katahdin sheep.

Katahdins may have as much milk as some milk sheep breeds such as Friesians - as much as five litres a day, so why not try milking them?

You can buy pure bred Katahdin sheep at Sabin’s Farm.