Namaste Farm Llamas

02/01/2025

Congratulations to the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton, IL for their acquisition of Small Town Hero NF!

The Cosley Zoo is an immaculately clean AZA-accredited facility with a large focus on conservation and animal education. Hero will join Franklin, also originally from our farm, to act as llama ambassadors to the public.

Hero is one of the last sons of our late herdsire, Doctor P. He is of exceptional quality and while he would have made an outstanding herd sire, we knew he would receive no better home or care than with the keepers at Cosley.

If you’re ever in the suburbs of Chicago, stop by and give Hero (and Franklin!) a visit!

(Pictured with Hudson at the lead, working on some desensitization training before he left.)

01/25/2025

Eight years ago we were contacted by the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton, IL looking for a llama to meet the needs of their program. Our sweet little Franklin fit the bill and today Cosley is celebrating Franklin’s “Gotcha Day”. Check out the enormous size Franklin grew to under their excellent care. We love seeing our llamas succeed! 🦙

(For those familiar with llama industry history, Franklin’s dam is Sintra, a well known Samponero daughter bred by Kay Patterson of Hinterland Ranch.)

Franklin the llama came to Cosley Zoo on January 24, 2017 from a llama farm in Iowa. Franklin was just 7 months old. As a juvenile llama, he was considered a llama cria. Franklin has been a crowd favorite since day 1 of being at Cosley Zoo. Franklin is a big guy measuring roughly 7ft tall and weighs in over 460lbs. For comparison, when Franklin arrived to Cosley Zoo he was only 150lbs! Pictured to the left is Franklin after arriving at Cosley Zoo, and to the right a recent picture of Franklin. Look how big he is now!

01/21/2025

As we welcome 2025, we’re reflecting on the incredible progress of the past year and setting exciting goals for the one ahead. We are so grateful for all that we have achieved, the incredible friendships we've made along the way, and where we are headed in the future.

2024 Highlights:

- Grandma Becky finished construction of her new home in the llama pasture and moved onto the farm full time.
- We welcomed the last crop of Doctor P offspring.
- Our farm achieved outstanding success in the show ring—far exceeding our expectations. In 2024 our llamas were awarded 11 Best in Show awards, 51 Grand Champion awards, and 16 Reserve Champion awards. (Individual details are included in the caption of each picture)
- Hudson and his llama, Risk Factor (Roo), did exceptionally well. He started off the year by finding out he had won the 2023 Iowa Llama Association High Point Youth Award and then continued to crush his personal goals for 2024. It will be a hard year for him to top!
- Two Junior Herdsires were purchased with the intention of crossing on our Doctor P daughters. We will start breeding one in 2025 and the other in 2026.
- Nick judged five llama shows across the U.S., from California to Georgia.

Goals for 2025:

- Continue showcasing our stock across the Midwest to support and promote the local llama industry.
- Expand educational opportunities in the broader llama community—like the Southeast Llama Judging Clinic in May, where Nick will be helping lead instruction.
- Launch the Iowa Llama Jackpot, a new show in Central City, IA designed to engage youth, provide education, award cash premiums, and promote breeding programs — all while having fun!
- Improve communication by responding faster to messages and by keeping this farm page updated.

A big shoutout to those who keep up with all of our adventures on Facebook. Here we come 2025!

06/19/2024

🦙 🎉 We have a few males available and looking for new pastures! Please check out our website for more information and email me with any questions or interest! Located in Iowa, but there will be transportation options across the country available at the end of June! 🎉 🦙

🖥️: http://www.namastefarmllamas.com/breeding-stock--show-prospect.html
📧: [email protected]

🌟 11 month old gray male. Too-notch pedigree, good conformation and super fun temperament. Has been started on obstacle training with a youth and myself. Would make an incredible show gelding - Showmanship, Halter, & Performance! He has already placed very well in competitive intact halter classes. Super straight topline and just enough of a cocky attitude in the ring to catch the eye of a judge. I expect him to finish at a medium size.

🌟 High quality 12 mo old light wool male. In 3 shows he’s won 3 Grand Champion titles against solid competition. A little spunky and feeling “all boy” at the moment. Not from Ccara pedigree, but similar look with a mane, limited fiber coverage, and semi-shedding undercoat. Could be castrated and would make an outstanding future packer or guard! He loves to work. Would let him go intact if you’re looking to add size, correctness, and a big frame. I expect him to finish out to be very big - between 46 - 48” at the withers.

🌟 Middle aged gelding. Pretty to look at, easy keeper, and sound confirmation. Great guard potential!

🌟 10 month old project male. Solid gray with national champion sire and dam. Was a little sick at weaning and as a result had a slower start. Doing great now, catching up quickly to his peers, and looking really good! Will need halter/lead work. He’s one I know is going to be really good in about 9 mos. Get him now or see him next year on our 2025 show string!

04/06/2024

Between all of March and April we have had two nice-enough days to capture registration photos of our summer 2023 cria. They aren’t the best pictures as the llamas are not clean or trained to walk, but they will have to work until show season. We are mostly grateful Grandma Becky didn’t lose an arm in the process and that they’ll soon be able to enter upcoming shows. 🙂

Overall, we are very happy with this group. All but one is sired or grand-sired by Doctor P. Not only are we proud of the deep quality in this set, but also how very consistently Doctor P and his bloodline produces. The direct daughters will remain in our program to replace their dams and, in a few short years, we’ll have a pretty powerful herd of breeding females.

See more at www.namastefarmllamas.com

10/08/2023

We have a super cute, older female looking for a leisurely retirement pasture to live out her final years.

At 17 years old, “Heart” has paid her dues to our farm by giving us several high quality offspring. She’s a grumpy girl, fully embracing her own idea that she’s above everyone else in her pasture. What Heart lacks in a cuddly personality, she makes up for with her flashy black and white colors and being an extremely easy keeper.

She has earned her right to stay on the farm forever, but we think she would be happier with fewer friends to compete with for food. In her older age, she may also develop a few needs such as extra treats or a blanket in the coldest months. So far she has received no different treatment than the rest of our herd, but it’s no secret that she’s aging.

Heart would do well in a small herd of llamas, alpacas, sheep, or goats. She will come with all of the supplies to ensure her success on your farm. (Halter, lead, blanket, toenail trimmers, care guide, brushes, etc;) If you are local or along my spring shearing route, I will continue to shear her at no charge.

If you know anyone looking to add a beautiful, low maintenance pasture ornament to their farm, please feel free to share this post.

New home must be approved. References may be requested. Delivery options available. Located just outside Cedar Rapids, IA.

** 🦙 🦙 If you’re interested in a pair of retired girls, our friends also have an older female who would love to accompany Heart in retirement. **

09/09/2023

Each year, approximately 45-60 days after breeding, we have our female herd ultrasounded. This helps us prepare for birthing the following spring and catch any issues that we might not see from the outside. Thanks to our wonderful veterinarians, friends who help handle, and Buck Hollow restraining chute - this is a relatively easy process.

This year we received a quite a shock. It was no surprise that one of our easiest breeders and best mothers scanned as bred. The shock was that she was pregnant with TWINS! Two strong heartbeats at exactly 45 days into gestation.

Unlike in sheep or goats, having twins in llamas is not a good thing. Often times they are aborted between 4-7 mos and the process puts an incredible amount of strain on the female carrying them, even if they were to make it to term.

After consulting with some of the best reproduction specialists in the country, we made the hard decision to terminate the pregnancy. The ‘Momma-Llama’ will be thrilled for the year off and we are sure she’ll make an excellent auntie next spring.

It never is boring around here!

08/27/2023

We are grateful and thrilled to announce that our nationally recognized herdsire, Doctor P, has been purchased by our friends Amy and Mary Prokop! 🎉 🦙

We have been asked a lot about why we sold Doc after all he has achieved with our herd.

Doctor P is and has been an outstanding male and we strongly believe in his power as a sire. Not only have his offspring done an excellent job in the show ring and on the auction block, but his oldest daughters have also proven to be excellent mothers, heavy milkers, and consistent in passing down his style and correctness. We believe so much in these genetics 🧬 that we have already retained 9 of his daughters in our breeding herd with more on the way! In just two years they will make up the vast majority of our females.

Using this strong foundation as our base, it’s time for us to climb to the next step in our breeding program. We are on the lookout for a new stud with traits that will complement our phenomenal Doctor P females and continue this success.

We are grateful that Amy and Mary have agreed to allow us to retain a few breedings to Doctor P and we will continue to use him on a limited basis with some of our young, unrelated girls. His legacy will continue, not only through the daughters here, but also with the new group of females at Amy and Mary’s.

08/20/2023

We had a blast at the Iowa State Fair llama show despite the crazy temperatures. ☀️ 🌡️

We took two Doctor P offspring to compete in halter. Free Spiritt NF won 2nd in her class and The Gentleman NF won 1st and Grand CH 🏆 of the Medium Wool Males.

Best of all, Doctor P won CH 🏆 with these two representing him in the Production Pair class.

Congratulations to all who participated. 🦙 🎉

08/02/2023

Baby watch begins for our final cria of the year!

We prefer to have early June cria but Small Town Charm opened up last year after a string of July heat. We threw her in with our herdsire, Doctor P, in August one time as a ‘Hail Mary’ attempt of getting her covered. It was obviously successfully and we’re on the countdown until she pops 🤞 We’re on day 353 of gestation.

07/17/2023

🦙 UPDATE 🦙

Our 2023 birthing season has come to a close. We ended with 10 happy, healthy, and beautiful cria. 6 females and 4 males - all of great quality. We are looking forward to watching them pronk and play through our pastures all summer long. Names and pedigrees are included in the caption of each photo.

As we move into our next season of life this farm page will be more regularly updated. You can expect your scrolling to be filled with more fuzzy faces, event updates, and happy memories.

With: Becky Buckles Willhite

07/08/2022

Summer Shandy is a really stylish, burly male born late May of 2022. While we really love his rugged look, big bone, and conformation - he’s not destined for the stud pen due to his tipped ears. (Even if they are super cute and add tons of character to his already goofy personality) Shandy will make an adorable pet or partner for 4H or performance. His white blaze gives him just enough eye appeal to match his easy-to-clean color. Shandy’s future is BIG, both in potential and in physical size. His parents are very large and we expect this guy to follow suit, especially considering his already rapid rate of gain. Shandy is being desensitized regularly and will be halter broken by weaning at the end of October, at which time he will become available to a new home. Shandy must go to a farm that already has llamas or alpacas with a preference to those who are experienced raising young llamas or those with a mentor to assist. If you are interested in more information or possibly adding Shandy to your program, please visit our website or reach out directly.
http://www.namastefarmllamas.com/breeding-stock--show-prospect.html

06/30/2022

With everything going on in our personal lives, the page has been pretty quiet. In lieu of any substantial content, here are a couple cute pictures from around the farm. 🦙🐑🐐

05/15/2022

Lambing started last night and shearing finally happened today! Big thanks to Jacob Loehr for all of his hard work giving these girls a fresh cut and for being so flexible with the time frame. Spring has officially sprung on Namaste Farm Llamas 🌸 ☀️

If you have any interest in a well-loved, crossbred fiber friend for your pastures, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We crossed our CVM Rommeldales and Lincoln Longwool to a beautiful white Romney this year. The fleece is sure to be fabulous and they aren’t made any cuter. 🐑 😉

02/07/2022

Really missing those warm summer afternoons ☀️ 🦙

01/02/2022

Talk of the Town
(Doctor P x Small Town Charm)

Nick’s favorite of the Doctor P babies from 2021. “Talkie” is a full brother to Small Town Gossip, now owned by Marlyn Johnson. His dam goes back to industry legends Fivestarr and El Fuerte. We are so excited to get him in the show ring in 2022.

12/26/2021

Turbulence
(Doctor P x MGF Turquissa)

We are really excited about how this guy is growing into himself. In addition to being this cute, ‘Turbo’ has the best personality. Pictured at the end is his dam, Turquissa, with a full body shear.

12/12/2021

Eban absolutely crushed his role as a Bethlehemian camel for the live nativity scene in Waterloo, IA.