Llamas

Like many llama breeders, we started on a very limited budget (never paying more than $1,500 for a llama) and have vastly improved our herd. For a small farm (20-25 llamas) our show record rivals that of many big ranches. We hand selected the parents of Cabernet's Pinot Blanc the 1999 National Grand Champion and are are now starting to show his offspring. He has consistently produced show winners and ALSA ROMs and Champions. In 2005, Cabernet Creek Farms produced the ALSA Western Regional Grand Champion Medium Wool Male, Heavy Wool Female and Non-breeder.

Articles

What is the Suri Class Supposed to Be? Debi Garvin

Due to previous problems and admitted screening errors, the ILR has placed a moratorium on screening and registering imports until 2008. It is not a secret that many suri huarizos have passed ILR screening and have been registered as llamas. Interestingly, these all appear to be the same phenotype, the one currently represented in the suri classes (slab sided and narrow with low tail sets), and mandated as the present criteria set forth by ALSA. Read More...

Breeding Up Debi Garvin

It is no secret within the llama community that numerous huarizos have been registered as full llamas. Many of these came from South America with “unknown” ancestries. The first blatant crosses occurred in the early to mid nineties with the sudden appearance of the short bodied “super-woolies”. These were largely crosses of huacaya alpacas and llamas. Although the crossbreeding was kept a “secret” in North America, it was widely known in South America that these animals were purposely being crossed for export to the US. The next big cross came with the sudden appearance of the “suri llama”, another obvious cross but this time between the suri alpaca and a llama. All of the imports that passed screening were registered as full llamas, even though their ancestry was “unknown”. Read More...

So you want to be a breeder – food for thought

Many people enter into animal production without the proper knowledge base and foundation.  Before one ever breeds an animal, they should determine whether they want to be a producer or a breeder.  We currently have way too few breeders and way too many producers.  Read More...

Basics of Breeding

There are many people producing llamas for a variety of reasons. Some are searching for a profitable enterprise, others may only be striving to create an ideal animal, and still others have mixed reasons. However, in today’s camelid world it appears that many people have entered into animal production without the proper knowledge base and foundation. Read More...

Definitions Every Breeder Should Know

Even though you may not want to dive into the ins and outs of genetics, there are a few definitions and basic concepts that every breeder should know. Read More...

Top Ten Hints for Breeders

1). Never breed for fads – have a vision of the ideal animal in your mind and stick with it – know what your long term breeding goals are and strive to reach those Read More...