Question:

During the winter we sometimes get snowed in for long periods of time and our llamas stay in the
barn a lot. Are there special management things we should be doing during long, cold winters?

Answer:

There are a number of things that come to mind. Perhaps the most important is to change the llamas
routine and to get them some sunshine. There is evidence that being cooped up in a barn for
extended periods can be very stressful on llamas. In fact, some stomach ulcers have been
contributed to long, hard winters when llamas could not get out of the barn. There are several ways
this can be accomplished.

1. We always leave our barn doors slightly open, giving the llamas the freedom to enter and exit.

2. We feed our females hay under an overhang outside of the barn.

3. We feed our llama pellets in an outside feed lot some distance from the barn.

4. We snow plow a path to several far corners of our female fields and during sunny days we feed
hay in the far corners. This gives the llamas some exercise and sunshine. In fact, they seem to look
forward to the far corner hay. On the occasions when it is fed there, they kick up their heels and
run for the corners. We generally try to feed a slightly different hay when we feed in the field corners
to further break their monotony.

5. We run all of our breeding males together during the winter. They chase each other, wrestle, and
in general, play one up-manship. This keeps them in excellent condition and they don't get bored.
We again feed our males under an overhang outside of the barn.

During the cold, winter days the llamas will also need additional energy (heat) producing feed. During
the periods when it is under 20% we feed each llama a half pound of a 16% protein grain mixture.
The following formula will produce a 16% protein grain supplement:

100 lbs. cracked corn (fine)

100 lbs. crimped oats

40 lbs. soybean meal

Please do not over feed this grain supplement!

We have found that more than a half pound a day of this grain supplement in addition to our routine pellets which have 10% protein will cause a weight gain even in the most harsh winter conditions.
This is another example of how “food efficient” our llamas really are.

6. Make sure that you are feeding a llama supplement that is high In Vitamin D. Llamas get Vitamin
D from sunshine and during winter months will need additional Vitamin D to maintain good health.

Long periods of winter snow Is hard on all livestock including the two legged type. Effective herd
management techniques can however make winters more pleasant for our llamas.