| Over the past five years, we have been concerned about parasites in our llamas. We have attended seminars on the topic as well as asked many llama owners what they do to protect against the problem. Of course, one of the very important things TO DO is cleaning pastures, as well as rotating pastures.
In the beginning, when we only had three llamas, Marvel and I were able to keep up the the task of raking up poop piles. As our herd grew, it became overwhelming to even think of the two of us keeping up with all the poop. Over the years, we have hired 7 young boys to tackle the task. Unfortunately, they all seemed to enjoy leaning on the shovel more than raking up the piles. So, we hired four men that did an outstanding job of cleaning the pastures on an every three week basis. This was a great relief to us, however, we had to look at the economics of having four guys working 4.5 - 6 hours raking pastures. So, we just kept our eyes and ears open for at better solution, and we found it.
We visited a llama/alpaca farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky and noticed the pastures were rather clean so we asked how they were keeping up with the job. They told us they were using a lawn vac. WOW, what a simple idea. The next day, we went shopping for a lawn vac and found a really nice powerful Agri-Fab Vacuum/Mulcher at Tractor Supply. The next day we took a trailer back to TSC and purchased the vac pictured below. Well, this was great and it did a super job but, it was a bit stressful on the back lugging the hose around the pasture. That night, I looked on the Tractor Supply website and discovered they offered a 5" x 12' hose attachment that included a handle on the end of the hose. We immediately ordered the hose. When we got it a week later, we once again went to the pasture to vacuum poop. This time is was easier because the hose was longer and the handle made it easier to manipulate the hose. Still trying to figure out how one person could do the job, we developed a way to attach the hose to the mower deck which raises and lowers with a hydraulic lift. This was the TOTAL answer to our delimena!
The following day I went to the pasture with the lawn vac hitched behind our Zero Turn and the hose attached to the deck and literally cleaned up 4 pastures in just 2.5 hours. Not only are we able to cut the time in half but, we are able to do the job with ONE person instead of 4. The other great advantage to the vac is it pulverizes the POOP so we can now package it and sell it as plant fertilizer. We all know how well llama poop makes things grow! And, one added benefit of the vac is we don't tear up the grass with the rake.
Well, the Zero Turn worked well, unless the ground was wet. And of course, we all know it is going to be that way from time to time. THANK GOD FOR THE RAIN! So, we purchased a Yamaha Four Wheeler and hired a high school kid to come and run the equipement. He loves having a job and is really happy using the Four Wheeler and vaccum instead of a rake and shovel. Nick, the hired man, now cleans the pastures every Saturday in about 2.5 hours.
We realize the cost of the vac and extension hose is a bit more than most people would want to invest in a SUPER DOOPER POOPER SCOOPER. The total investment, not counting the Four Wheeler, for the 8-HP Agri-Fab Vacuum/Mulcher was around $1,600.00. But, when we calculate the cost of labor over a 12 month period we believe we will be way ahead of the financial game, plus SAVE THE GRASS.
As well as cleaning our pastures on a regular basis, we harrow the pastues several times in the spring, fertilize and overseed and ROTATE pastures on a regular basis. If we have a weed problem, we spray the pastures with a good weed killer and leave them vacant for 7 days. I must not forget to mention, we feel we are on a good deworming program too. |
