WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Dell Rodman, owner of the Colonial Alpacas farm in Williamstown, grew up around farm animals, but hadn’t worked with alpacas until about 20 years ago.

“There was an advertisement for an open house for an open house at an alpaca farm, and I said ‘what’s an alpaca?’” said Rodman. “And so we went to look at it, and I said, ‘oh, I want to do this,’ and my wife said ‘no you’re not,’ and I said ‘no, I really, really do!’” 

What You Need To Know

  • Dell Rodman owns the Colonial Alpacas farm in Williamstown, and has worked with alpacas for 20 years
  • He runs a small breeding program, with the goal of producing high-quality alpaca fiber
  • The fiber is made into apparel like hats and gloves, which Rodman sells at his small farm store
  • Rodman will be retiring from his day job this year to work on the farm full-time

Rodman runs a small breeding program at the farm, with just one or two newborns each year. The goal is to raise alpacas whose fur can produce high-quality fiber.

“Sometimes it’s a misconception where people think just because it’s made from alpaca that it’s soft, and that’s not true,” said Rodman. “There are different grades of softness in alpaca fiber. We’re really trying to breed an animal that can maintain that certain level of softness, either grade one, two, or three, throughout their lifetime.”

The quality of the fiber is important because it will be made into apparel like hats, gloves, and socks, which Rodman sells out of a small farm store.

“We send our fiber to a co-op, the New England Alpaca Fiber Pool in Fall River, Massachusetts, and then we get products back to sell,” said Rodman. “And I also import products for Peru, so it’s about 50 percent in the shop, 50 from the co-op and 50 percent from Peru.”

Rodman said business is good, and he’ll be retiring from his job at a nonprofit this year to work on the farm full time.

He’s looking forward to spending more time with his alpacas, and sharing his passion with his customers.

“Everyone comes up and they want to see the animals, and they have a great time with the animals,” said Rodman. “And that’s enjoyable for me, because to see people get the enjoyment out of them that my wife and I get out them, it’s really nice.”