Do You Own A Wholly Llama

Do you own a wholly llama? If you see abundant long hair below the elbows on the legs bunch of long hair between the ears, and very dense long fiber from the jawbone to the tip if the tail, and it does not shed, then chances are it is a wholly llama. If you wish to maximize the value of this lovely fiber, halter break your Llama, accustom it to grooming, feed it a low protein diet, and keep its pasture free of ant debris, which could get into or on the fiber.

To avoid fiber felted right into the animal due to overheating, shear at least the barrel between the hips and the shoulders each year. The neck, shoulder, and hind quarters also can be shorn, and yield very nice fiber. Some owners use hand shears or scissors, others hire an experienced and willing professional sheerer.

Store the fiber in a paper or cardboard container. If possible, process the fiber right away. If you must wait, then store the fiber away from insects. {A freezer works well}. Some commercial mills process Llama fiber. It is classified as an exotic fiber. If you wish, you can purchase picking equipment, carding equipment and a spinning device so you can create your own Llama yarn. If you hope to sell the Llama fiber or yarn, join local spinning groups and network around to find the best vehicle for advertising your products. Remember the cleaner the fiber, the more valuable it will be.

COMPARING LLAMA and ALPACA FIBER

Each animal produces a unique fleece each year. Generally speaking, Alpacas grow very little ground hair, feature crimped and crinkled fiber, and each fiber has a very small diameter (measured in microns}. Llama fiber, once the guard hair is removed, sometimes equals Alpaca fiber in fineness. As the animals age, the fiber diameter increases. Traditionally, Alpaca yarn is used to make garments worn next to the skin, and Llama is used for outerwear. One could vary this convention a bit by using the finest diameter Llama or Alpaca fiber for inner wear, and the larger diameter fiber for outerwear.

Breeders who concentrate on improving the fiber in their animals choose the finest fleeces with the most uniformity in color and quality. Judges at fleece shows look for length of the fiber, softness, luster, strength, crimp (waves within the lock of fiber), crinkle {waves in each individual fiber) and of course, fineness and cleanliness.

Courtesy: Eva Gallagher

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