Llama as a food source??

hmm.. i dont see why not... i have no idea though. but i have to ask... how on earth did you get 6 llamas????

BEVOLASVEGAS

I have recently acquired six llamas. 

I'm sensing a really good story behind this!!

I think those creatures are usually used for their wool, not meat in this country. So who would even know how to slaughter them for you? Plus, if they're older and have been used for wool production, or a petting zoo - they have probably had shots, antibiotics, worming with who knows what, treatment for parasites and could potentially carry who knows what diseases and having not been raised for meat could theoreticly pose a problem. I like them, they remind me of zoo's, petting zoo's at fairs... but that's a lot of meat. I imagine it'd be a bit like goat...

There are some restaurants that will serve llama. I think the texture is similar to lamb with the leanness of deer, depending on what they are fed. If fed corn all the time, they will fatten up a bit. If you want to render them, the one place I know of, though you may find others, is Fisher's Meat Market in Muenster, Texas (not too far from Gainsville.) But they do the rendering only. People bring in the animals already dead, so they are not set up to put the animal down. But they have excellent procedures and are checked by a health inspector.

This will be a bit gruesome and I'm sorry. The most humane way to put the animal down if you don't have the equipment they use in a plant is a .22 between the eyes. I won't go into detail as to why this is most effective but it is painless, as opposed to other methods, such as being hunted down by a wolf or coyote.

Or, you might another company that will handle the whole process. Bring them in one end. Wait a while. Pick up your cartons of meat at the other end.

Amanda, I don't know why llama meat wouldn't be fine for the dogs.

Ron, don't try shooting a pig with a .22 between the eyes, you might be in for a big surprise.  :)

There is no big story about how I came into possesion of the llamas.  A great aunt died, & left them to me.  She bought 4 of them a couple of years ago.  Two had babies while she had them.  They are not tame animals.  They never have been.  My aunt bought them with the intentions of taming them, but that never happened. 

There is a store here that sells llama.  DH & I eat it, & have found that it tastes mutton-y.  

Ron, I have talked to someone who will process it for me.  He has processed deer & hogs for us this hunting season, & has done a great job.  He has processed a few llamas as well.

My biggest concern is that the meat won't be suitable for the dogs to eat.  Quite frankly, DH & I don't eat it frequently enough to warrant killing them, as the meat would spoil, & have to be thrown out. 

JackieG

Ron, don't try shooting a pig with a .22 between the eyes, you might be in for a big surprise.  :)

The .22 bullet ricochets & comes back at you!   That is probably one of the scariest feelings in the world.

 As someone else posted you may not know all the worming injections and other medicines they have had. I use a worming fluid on my goats(Ivomech) that you are not supposed to use on animals meant for eating because you may accidently poison the person eating their meat. Well thats what it says on the bottle label anyway.

Other then that I see no reason not to feed it, just that the medical history may be unknown.

Kyda

I use a worming fluid on my goats(Ivomech) that you are not supposed to use on animals meant for eating because you may accidently poison the person eating their meat. Well thats what it says on the bottle label anyway.

Ivomec is a cattle/swine farm strength of ivermectin and is pretty much out of the body in 24 hours.  It does say that on the label but to the point of not giving it prior to slaughter.

Ivermectin is meant for use in animals destined for human consumption.  There's only a few antibiotics that have super long withdrawals and they are pricey and not what I'd expect to have been used in animals that I suspect have not exactly been spoiled pets.  There's one that is NEVER to be used in any animal meant for slaughter, because it leaves a residue that lasts pretty much forever that can cause reactions in people allergic to sulfas.

Llama should be fine as a meat, if it's eaten by people (and every animal is eaten by people somewhere, pretty much, aren't they?).  The only trouble you might have is finding a packer who will handle the live animals, but if they are eaten in restaurants, then someone must be set up to handle them.

Ron, don't try shooting a pig with a .22 between the eyes, you might be in for a big surprise.  :)

Uh, shooting about anything between the eyes will produce a nasty surprise.  I had a friend, while I was in the hospital once, who was watching my sheep,  I had a couple of sick lambs and she called me one day and said they needed to be put down. 

I agreed and she got her husband's gun, aimed between the eyes of the first one, and was horrified at the result.  She called her husband in tears and he said (after he controlled his laughing enough to talk), that she needed to put the gun to the ear of the second one.  Just behind the ear, to be precise.

Putting down animals is a sad but necessary part of animal husbandry.  You can't let them suffer and livestock animals are particularly susceptible to the depression and fear of illness or injury. 

JackieG

Amanda, I don't know why llama meat wouldn't be fine for the dogs.

Ron, don't try shooting a pig with a .22 between the eyes, you might be in for a big surprise.  :)

I may have got the position wrong but I swear my co-worker, John, who's cousin traps wild pigs, shoots them between the eyes. But it could have been another position. The reason for a .22 is that it will enter the braincase but not have enough force to go out the other end, if you use a light enough load on the cartridge. The bullet tumbles inside guaranteeing death but death is instantaneous. I smoked such a pig on the grill for work about a month ago. I understand that if you consume meat, you are part of the process of slaughter. It was good eatin', too. We're all part of the food chain. If buried without a casket, a human will be consumed by other creatures, such as maggots, worms, etc. The chemicals of the human body will be leached out into the soil and feed the surrounding plants.

I did say wild pig but not wild boar, like an Arkansas Razorback.