This is the kind of shelter Ian wants to build when we are in France. I have persuaded him to make the doorway bigger and we are going to put in 2 windows to allow the air to pass through in the summer and to give the llamas something to look at! Who knows whether they will like it or not! We are picking up the wood on Saturday morning from Kent and driving it down to the Dordogne. I will post pictures of the work in progress. (The picture is from here.)
3 comments:
if the llamas dont like it, send it here and we'll make a summer house of it
Having built a llama shelter ourselves this year, (custom-built on site because of the very uneven and sloping nature of the land), we now have first-hand experience of how the llamas actually use it.
Although they very much appreciated the shade it offered during the hot, sunny weather, we have been surprised to find that they don't always go in it when it is raining - unless they happen to be in there munching hay when the rain starts. Also, they very rarely sleep in it. We think this must be because they prefer to be out in the open, where they can more easily escape from would-be predators that try to creep up on them while they are asleep.
They invariably return to the shelter once they are awake, if there is hay in there to eat, and it tends to be their 'hanging out' area for most of the day, even if they are not right inside the shelter it provides.
We had intended to make a three-sided shelter, but ended up leaving it two-sided, as they seem to like to be able to approach it from the side as well as the front, and it gives them more moving-about space.
If you have the roof sloping down towards the entrance (as in your picture) the ground in front of the entrance will get really wet and muddy from the run-off when it rains. It's better to have a single-pitched roof, with the lowest side at the back. We also added a gutter and down-pipe, so we could collect the rainwater from the roof in their drinking bucket.
You can see a picture of our (wonky, rough-and-ready, but effective) field shelter on our blog (Tuesday 15 April). We've added the gutter and down-pipe since the picture was taken.
Hope this is helpful....
Enjoy the building of it!
Val
Yes, I can't help thinking something a little more open would be better but Ian was set on that design! I also suggested a flat roof but he was determined to do it as a pitched one. Its a good point about the water though. Think we will need to invest in some guttering as well. Will post some pictures!
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