Lisa Gets A Haircut!

Lisa Safely Kushed In Chute

Last fall, we had an opportunity to get a free llama ...... Lisa came to Wild Rose Farm and has settled in nicely here.  She is an older llama and she is not tame.  We've been working to get her to be more trusting and she now moves along well with her sheep.  She will eat feed out of a bucket when we hold it, but doesn't want to be touched.  Well, today was a big day here!  Our latest project was building a llama restraint chute so that we could safely handle her as needed.  Our first priority was to get her clipped.  We don't know when she was last sheared, but it had been years ......

Sue Weaver Advised Use of Spring Loaded Scissors

Once we got her haltered & into the chute, she "kushed" in a minute or two.  That's a typical reaction for a llama in this situation.  Of course, it makes the shearing or clipping more difficult snce she's down on the ground, but you just start at the top and work your way down her sides.  We knew that she wasn't matted down to the skin and we wanted to leave a couple of inches for the winter.  Since we weren't using electric shears, we found a tip from the book above to use spring loaded scissors & it made a big difference. We also used a pair of manual sheep shears & they also worked great.  I'd say Lisa was in the chute for about an hour and the good news was that she didn't try & spit either!   Her cut is a little choppy, but we hear that it will look fine in a month or two.  :)
She actually seemed to have a little spring in her step after it was all done ............

Wild Rose Farm Llama Lisa "After"

Back With The Ewes & Off To Pasture!