Raising llamas in Illinois

EAST PEORIA — The first University of Illinois Extension sustainable agriculture tour this season represents one of the more unusual enterprises in Illinois.

The tour will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 13, at the Eagle Dancer Ridge Lamas Inc. in East Peoria. (Note: the genus name is spelled with one “L.”)

“Over the years, we’ve toured goat farms, free-range poultry farms, even a reindeer ranch, but this will be our first tour of facility that raises llamas and alpacas,” said Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Small Farm and Sustainable Agriculture Extension specialist who is coordinator of the tours.

There are four types of lama — the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco and the vicuna. They have a three-compartment stomach, and chew a cud like sheep and cattle. Lamas have been domesticated for many centuries and used as a beast of burden, as a fiber source, and as a meat source in South America.

Adult llamas’ average weight can range from about 250 to 450 pounds, with a height from 5 1/2 to more than 6 feet tall. They live from 15 to 25 years. Adult alpacas generally weigh about 150 pounds and are 4 feet tall.

Lisa Saunders, co-owner of Eagle Dancer Ridge Lamas Inc., said visitors on the U of I Extension tour will be able to take a llama around the obstacle course used by the birthday party groups, hike in the woods, enjoy the early spring plants and a delicious lunch.

For more information about Eagle Dancer Ridge Lamas Inc., visit www.edrlamas.com.