This is my new llama, Lovely Lucy: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11676765/

Now let me explain quickly why it is that llamas are absolutely the best animal EVER and you should get one. Their wool is better than sheep, they're hardier than cattle, they can breed at any time so you can stagger breeding in a herd to always have "llama milk," their poop is the #2 fertilizer in the world (second only to bat guano), their soft-padded feet make them great at traveling on surfaces dangerous to horses like gravel and rough mountains, they carry 1/3 of their body weight making them better at packing than even horses and donkeys, they protect other livestock by attacking predators and killing them (they can even gut mountain lions!), and they eat 1/3 of the amount of grass and hay that a horse of the same size does. Their wool is hypoallergenic and oil-free (no lanolin like sheep), so it is impossible to be allergic to them. They are bred to be tame and need very little training to be used for a job, and they are smarter than your average dog and able to learn new tricks with as few as five repetitions! They can't lift a full-size adult and have them ride on their back, but they CAN pull a special cart behind them and pull along an adult human of good size. Their feet don't damage grass like other animals' hooves, and they actively eat out weeds and low branches before eating the grass that other animals prefer, meaning they leave the pasture better than they found it. They're even naturally house-trained and can be inside for up to two hours before having to go outside to poop. They always poop in the same place which you can move by removing the pile of poop to a new location, meaning they can even learn to use a large litterbox inside. Their poop is dry and hard llama "beans," so it doesn't stink (llamas have NO odor) and they aren't messy or squishy to clean up. Since they're a modified ruminant with only 3 parts to their stomach instead of the four that cows and other livestock are known for, they process food better and their poo has a higher concentration of the main three chemicals used in fertilizer. Their meat is also exceptional and tastes like buffalo meat (if you haven't had buffalo, they sell it in some Walmarts and most other butcher shops. It's a learner kind of beef that has less fat and more flavor!). The long neck of a llama is comparable to T-bone steak, and it is literally cut horizontally up the neck with the vertebrae into bone-in steaks. Although they aren't built to have a huge amount of meat for their size, your average llama is 400 pounds and will produce well over 100 pounds of meat. Female llamas are induced ovulators like rabbits, meaning they can be bred anytime year-round. Gestation is 11 and 1/2 months, and they can rebreed two weeks after birth. This means they have exactly one baby a year (twins are VERY rare), and basically on the same day every year (assuming they are rebred immediately). They require very little care and are significantly hardier and more disease resistant than other livestock. Their most common problem is worms which do no real damage unless left untreated for years. They require very little vet care compared to other livestock. The most important vet care needed is getting excess males gelded (fixed) in a timely manner so they don't become aggressive or territorial around your herd sire or cause unwanted inbreeding. Average price of gelding (castrating) a calm younger male llama is about $50. A good field of Bermuda grass can sustain 2 to 5 llamas per ACRE. Since llamas are herd animals, if you have one you must have another or put the lone llama with another kind of herd to guard them (alpacas, goats, sheep, etc.). In other words, all you need to own two happy llamas is a fenced in acre yard (provided, of course, it is legal to keep them in your district). Alternatively, a half acre will do if they are given plenty of good hay and/or all-feed. You can fit a llama comfortably in most large SUVs and they can easily be loaded into a pickup bed if given a make-shift cage around the bed. This means they are easier to transport than most large livestock as well.

Seriously. You can buy a perfectly healthy, average, fixed (gelded) male for as little as $25 in most livestock auctions here. o.O

So yeah. They're basically perfect. ^.=.^

I have spent weeks learning everything there is to know about llamas. For serious. Ask me anything. >.=.>